Tag: New Mexico

Talk about a great postscript to an already happy ending!

Back in August, New Mexico’s Doña Ana County made history when it began issuing marriage licenses to gay couples. County Clerk Lynn Ellins decided it was time and the law would allow it. His action emboldened other counties, and ultimately the New Mexico Supreme Court finally decided the matter.

Prepping for the court battle, however, Ellins began raising private donations to help the county cover the cost of its legal fees and the fundraising effort was so successful that there was more cash to spare.

Ellins is now donating that money to a campaign called New Mexico Unites for Marriage Equality, the Las Cruces Sun reports:

Ellins had raised private donations — via a website and at his county office — to pay for his defense in a civil lawsuit brought by opponents of his controversial August decision to issue marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples.

After paying his legal bill, Ellins estimated a few thousand dollars are leftover. And he said he’s giving that money to a campaign called New Mexico Unites for Marriage Equality.

“It’s a nonprofit organization that was established the last year to basically protect the same-gender marriage rights,” Ellins said.

Ellins’ legal expenses tied to the state district court lawsuit totaled nearly $31,759, according to a Doña Ana County news release.

Unlike the state officials in Utah, New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez says in light of the recent state supreme court decision in her state, she won’t support or seek an amendment to ban gay marriage in the state.

The Santa Fe New Mexican reports:

Martinez said several times last summer — when several county clerks across the state began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples — that she believed state voters should decide the issue by way of a ballot question on whether to amend the state constitution.

“I think what I said before was that yes, the people should have decided on it, but the Supreme Court has decided,” the governor said Monday when asked by a reporter about the issue. “And it’s now the law of the land.”

Asked whether that meant she wouldn’t push for the Legislature to pass a measure like Sen. Bill Sharer’s Senate Joint Resolution 6, Martinez responded, “It’s the law of the land. The Supreme Court has spoken.”

In an op-ed in the Albuquerque Journal, the editors urge those still opposed to marriage equality in New Mexico to “move on:”

The reality is that same-sex marriage is here to stay. In the past few years, it has gained wide support, reflecting a changing U.S. society that is more tolerant of different lifestyle choices and a growing consensus that allowing people of the same sex to marry is the right thing to do.

[snip]

The state Supreme Court has concluded that all people, no matter their sexual orientation, should be treated equally under the law when it comes to the right to marry. It’s time to recognize that and move on.

Thoughtful and balanced, you can read the rest of the article here.

The New Mexico Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in the state Thursday, declaring in a unanimous ruling that it is unconstitutional to deny a marriage license to gay and lesbian couples.

New Mexico becomes the 17th state along with the District of Columbia in allowing gay marriage.

From the State Supreme Court ruling:

Prohibiting same-gender marriages is not substantially related to the governmental interests advanced by the parties opposing same-gender marriage or to the purposes we have identified. Therefore, barring individuals from marrying and depriving them of the rights, protections, and responsibilities of civil marriage solely because of their sexual orientation violates the Equal Protection Clause under Article II, Section 18 of the New Mexico Constitution.

We hold that the State of New Mexico is constitutionally required to allow same-gender couples to marry and must extend to them the rights, protections, and responsibilities that derive from civil marriage under New Mexico law.

From Freedom to Marry:

“The New Mexico Supreme Court did the right thing today by affirming fairness, freedom, and respect for same-sex couples who hope to share in the joy of marriage.

“The clarity of today’s ruling ensures that the freedom to marry, and the protections that come along with it, are guaranteed for loving and committed same-sex couples in the Land of Enchantment.”

From the Human Rights Campaign:

“The court is entirely correct that denying lesbian and gay couples the same rights as everyone else is fundamentally unjust,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “Regardless of where you live, all people should have the ability to marry the person they love, and now the legislature must not do anything to turn back the clock in the Land of Enchantment.”

Read the entire decision from the New Mexico State Supreme Court below:

Dona Ana County Clerk Lynn Ellins, who recently began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples

Yesterday, the New Mexico state Supreme Court heard arguments for and against whether New Mexico law does or does not allow for same-sex marriage.

Reuters has the breakdown of the current marriage situation in New Mexico:

Currently eight New Mexico counties allow gay couples to marry, and more than 900 couples have filed for same-sex marriage licenses since clerks in those jurisdictions started issuing them in recent months, some voluntarily and some under court order.

At least two New Mexico judges have upheld gay marriage under provisions of the state constitution, including cases that apply to counties encompassing the state’s largest city, Albuquerque, and the state capital, Santa Fe.

Meanwhile, a number of Republican state lawmakers have filed a lawsuit challenging the authority of the clerk of Dona Ana County, which includes the state’s second-most populous town, Las Cruces, to hand out marriage licenses to gay couples there.

The debate reached a crescendo when all 33 county clerks in the state joined the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Center for Lesbian Rights in petitioning New Mexico’s high court to decide the issue on a statewide basis.

All five justices concurred last month in ordering a review of the case, and the arguments got underway on Wednesday in a courtroom filled to capacity.