Groups Ask New Mexico Supreme Court To Legalize Gay Marriage

Carlos Santoscoy | On Top Magazine | July 3, 2013

Two groups on Tuesday asked the New Mexico Supreme Court to legalize gay marriage in the state.

New Mexico is the only U.S. state that neither recognizes nor prohibits the recognition of the unions of gay and lesbian couples.  The New Mexico Constitution’s definition of marriage is gender neutral.

However, opponents have cited the state’s application for a marriage license, which includes spaces to list the bride and the groom, as reason to not allow gay couples to marry.  New Mexico Attorney General Gary King has described the terms as “gender specific.”

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ACLU announces NM lawsuit on same-sex marriage

RUSSELL CONTRERAS |Associated Press | Las Cruces Sun News | March 23, 2013

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico filed a lawsuit Thursday aimed at forcing state officials to recognize same-sex marriage under current New Mexico law,

The legal action marked yet another effort by advocacy groups to persuade county clerks to issue marriage licenses across the state.

The lawsuit was filed in state district court on behalf of two lesbian couples who sought marriage licenses in Bernalillo County.

It claims the current ban on same-sex marriage violates the New Mexico Constitution. The ACLU-NM said it wants to eventually get the New Mexico Supreme Court to decide the dispute.

“They filed this lawsuit today in the hopes that someday soon no committed, loving same-sex couple will be turned away and excluded from marriage because of the one they love,” said Peter Simonson, executive director of ACLU-NM.

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