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OAS publishes Compendium of practices of legal recognition of gender identity in the Mexican states

  November 30, 2021

The Organization of American States (OAS) today published the "Compendium of practices of legal recognition of gender identity in the states of Mexico", which analyzes the registry and identification work in the states of Mexico in relation to the full recognition of gender identity.  

The registry and identification work in Mexico is divided between public institutions belonging to different levels of government; civil registry tasks are carried out by the governments of the states and, sometimes, by the municipalities, while the identification function is assigned to the federal government, which oversees assigning the unique population identifier.  

Therefore, the full recognition of gender identity in Mexico is a shared obligation between the different orders of government. Since 2015 when Mexico City was the first federative entity to adopt legislation that allowed the recognition of self-perceived gender identity, 17 federative entities have approved practices or legislation on the matter.  

This publication, jointly produced by the Universal Civil Identity Program in the Americas (PUICA) of the OAS and the National Registry of Population and Identity (RENAPO) of Mexico, includes:  

  • The characteristics of Mexico's registration and identification system, with differentiation of responsibilities in the recognition of self-perceived gender identity of different levels of government.
  • A comparative matrix of existing practices for gender identity recognition, following the standards established by Advisory Opinion 24/17 of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights: comprehensiveness, nature of the procedure, absence of unreasonable, invasive and pathologizing requirements, confidentiality, expedited procedures.
  • Individual profiles with the characteristics of the existing procedures in the states of: Mexico City, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Colima, State of Mexico, Hidalgo, Michoacán, Nayarit, Nuevo León, Jalisco, Oaxaca, Puebla, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosí, Sonora and Tlaxcala.  

The OAS aspires for this publication, produced with support from the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) as part of an OAS/PUICA sub-regional project, to serve as a guide for other states or countries in the region that are considering the adoption of procedures to expand access to the right to identity for people with non-normative identities.

Reference: E-106/21