Same-sex marriage has been legal in Mexico for almost two weeks, but it took a lwhile for the world to catch on to the landmark move for the Latin American country.

On June 3, Mexico’s Supreme Court ruled that state laws banning same-sex marriage are discriminatory.

“As the purpose of matrimony is not procreation, there is no justified reason that the matrimonial union be heterosexual, nor that it be stated as between only a man and only a woman,” the ruling reads, according to The New York Times. “Such a statement turns out to be discriminatory in its mere expression.”

But that doesn’t mean same-sex marriage is as easy for every gay couple in the country as it is for heterosexual couples. The ruling is what’s known as a “jurisprudential thesis,” and it does not overturn any state’s individual law.

What it does do is allow couples who have been denied a marriage license to appeal their case to a district judge on an individual basis. Based on the Supreme Court ruling, those judges are required to grant marriage licenses to individual couples.

It’s an extra step straight couples don’t have to take—and one that could cost major bucks in court fees and time waiting for a hearing—but it effectively allows gay people to wed throughout the country.

Mexico has the second-largest Catholic population in the world after Brazil, where gay marriage is also legal. In May, same-sex marriage was legalized by popular vote in the Republic of Ireland, another highly religious country.

RELATED: This Chart Shows Where Same-Sex Marriage Is Legal Around the World

Religious views are often used as the basis to condemn homosexuality and impinge civil rights—they are often used as an argument against gay marriage right here in America.

Approximately 83 percent of Mexico’s population is Catholic, while 70 percent of the U.S. is Christian. As LGBT advocates north of the border await a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court on same-sex marriage, Mexico’s decision to put equal rights above religious doctrine proves that a country more religious than the U.S. can separate church and state.

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Original article from TakePart