The State of Marriage

Doña Ana
The first county clerk in New Mexico to start issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples was Lynn Ellins of Doña Ana County, who began issuing licenses on Aug. 21.

According to the Las Cruces Sun News, Ellins reviewed marriage laws carefully and concluded they did not prohibit same-sex unions because laws are gender-neutral. Ellins said that by allowing same-sex couples to marry, he was upholding state law, and that he saw “no reason to make committed couples in Doña Ana County wait another minute to marry.”

Santa Fe
Santa Fe County was the second county in the state to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. However, it was the first to do so legally, because County Clerk Geraldine Salazar received a court order from the Second District Judicial Court instructing her to distribute the licenses. “With that court order, I communicated with my attorneys and we went over it for a couple of hours,” she said. “Eventually I stated that I would start issuing same-gender marriage licenses beginning at two o’clock on Aug. 23.”

Bernalillo
On Aug. 27, Bernalillo County became third to follow suit when County Clerk Maggie Toulouse Oliver also received a court order from the Second District Judicial Court the day before. Bernalillo was the second county to legally distribute same-sex marriage licenses. Oliver said the order was “consistent with her personal beliefs,” and that neither the New Mexico statutes nor the constitution prohibit marriage between two people of the same sex.

San Miguel
San Miguel County Clerk Melanie Rivera began issuing licenses on Aug. 27. Rivera was not compelled by court order.

Valencia
Valencia County Clerk Peggy Carabajal started issuing same-sex marriage licenses the same day as San Miguel County. Carabajal also acted without a court order.

Taos
Later in the day on Aug. 27, Taos County became the sixth to begin issuing same-sex marriage licenses after County Clerk Anna Martinez was instructed to do so by court order. According to the Santa Fe New Mexican, the case was brought by a same-sex couple that was denied a license.

Grant
On Sept. 3, Grant County Clerk Robert Zamarripa agreed to comply with a court order and began issuing licenses for same-sex couples the following week. According to the Silver City Sun-News, the Zamarripa’s office refused to grant same-sex marriage licenses on Aug. 27. Zamarripa said he wanted to wait to receive a court order before issuing licenses, according to the article.

Los Alamos
Los Alamos County Clerk Sharon Stover was the first clerk to defy a court order to begin issuing licenses to same-sex couples. In a statement to the media, Stover said she appealed the order because the gender-specific New Mexico marriage license had not been updated since 1961 and “does not work for same-sex couples.” She said the problem should be addressed by legislators.

“Because the license issue has not previously been addressed in any of the other court proceedings, I have decided to appear before Judge (Sheri) Raphaelson on (Sept. 4) at 10 a.m. in Los Alamos to state my concern about the outdated and deficient forms,” she said.

At the hearing, First Judicial District Judge Raphaelson overturned Stover’s appeal. Later that day, the clerk issued a marriage license to a same-sex couple for the first time in Los Alamos County.

After the Supreme Court session today, Stover said she awaits a decision by the justices as to whether or not New Mexico law allows same-sex unions.

“I’m just looking forward to them making a decision that will give the clerks the tools to let them perform their jobs,” she said. “So we could not get caught in the middle anymore.”