Gay Mexican couple makes history with New York wedding

A gay Mexican couple who got married in New York City will be the first to see their same-sex union recognised in their home country.

Daniel Berezowsky and Jaime Chávez Alor got married on November 26 after winning a legal challenge against the Mexican government.

The couple, who first moved to the US in 2016 to pursue their master’s degrees at Columbia University, first applied for a marriage licence in May at the General Consulate of Mexico in New York.

Their request was initially rejected on the grounds that Mexico does not recognise same-sex weddings at the federal level, but only in some of the country’s 31 states as well as in the capital, Mexico City.

The couple would have had to travel back to Mexico City or one of the states where same-sex marriage is legal to get married.

“We thought it was discriminatory,” Berezowsky said of the decision, quoted in The New York Times.

“They had no grounds to deny us. We had every right to get married,” he added.

Gay Mexican couple’s legal victory a game-changer for LGBT+ Mexicans

A judge in Mexico’s Guerrero state agreed with the couple, ruling in their favour in October. The decision will allow all LGBT+ Mexicans living abroad to get married in their place of residence.

Berezowsky and Chavez tied the knot in front of a small group of family and friends at the Upper East Side residence of Diego Gómez Pickering, consul general of Mexico, who officiated the ceremony.

Berezowsky shared pictures from the ceremony on Twitter, thanking those who supported the couple during the legal challenge.

“My husband and I (how amazing to say it!) are very grateful for all the support we have received,” he wrote.

He added special thanks to the Mexican consulate in New York and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs where “there are great allies” who have shown the couple “infinite support” on their journey.

“This victory is yours as much as it is ours,” Berezowsky wrote.

The New York Mayor’s Office for International Affairs congratulated the couple on Facebook.

“For the first time ever, a same-sex couple was married outside Mexico under Mexican law, at Consulmex Nueva York in a ceremony officiated by Consul General Diego Gómez Pickering,” the city authorities wrote in the statement.

It added: “On behalf of Mayor Bill de Blasio and the City of New York, Commissioner Abeywardena congratulated the newlyweds on this special day that marks a milestone for global equality in NYC, and thanked them for their courageous actions in pressing their case for marriage equality.

“Their persistence will make a meaningful difference for LGBT Mexican immigrants and their families living in New York City and elsewhere.”

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