So, you may have heard that things in New Mexico right now are kind of … weird. There are thirty-something counties in the state, and all of a sudden a couple of them have decided that marriage equality is legal, just like that. What’s going on?
Well, New Mexico is kind of an anomaly in that it never had an explicit ban on marriage. After a couple years of fiddling about the legislature, suddenly gay couples have discovered that lawsuits are a much more effective way to get married. A handful of judicial rulings (and some bold county clerks) are to thank for the state’s sudden marriage bonanza.
So we’re headed in the right direction, with a total of six counties now issuing licenses. But there’s still a lot of work to do: anti-gay lawmakers have filed suit to stop the weddings, and some county clerks are resisting the push towards equality. The state Supreme Court will probably have to step in to resolve all the questions about what exactly is and isn’t required by law. And they’ll be doing that … any minute now … probably.
the other Greg
Funny that the video is so good with the “tilda” (the little Spanish squiggle over certain N’s) but gets the name of the most populous county wrong: it’s Bernalillo, not Bernadillo. Maybe they got to thinking about armadillos?
1EqualityUSA
Matt Baum, you are so adorable. AFER, thanks for existing. Queertiers, support AFER with your spare dollars. They fight like we are right. When Prop H8 was a contender, other organizations, such as NCLR, were timid and saying that a loss at the Supreme Court would set the movement back 20 years. AFER had the balls to stand up and fight like we were right. Congratulations to New Mexico and Hawaii for standing up for equality.