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New Mexico became the 17th state in the nation to allow same-sex marriages on Thursday.
After months of deliberation, the state Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the state government “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.”
Peter Simonson, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico, said that New Mexico is the first state in the Southwest to approve same-sex marriage. It was a joyous occasion, he said.
“The denial of marriage licenses to same-sex couples violates equal protection guarantees in our New Mexico constitution,” he said. “This is an enormous victory, not just for same-sex couples in New Mexico, but also for gay men and lesbians in the nation.”
The Supreme Court’s ruling came a result of a case put forth three months ago by the state’s 41 county clerks regarding the legality of same-sex marriage. Debates started after Doña Ana County Clerk Lynn Ellins decided in August to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples without a court ruling.
The Second Judicial District Court later that month deemed same-sex marriage constitutional, which led the Bernalillo County clerk to issue licenses to same-sex residents of the county. Bernalillo County, which includes Albuquerque, became the second county in New Mexico to do so with legal backing. Santa Fe County was the first to do so with legal backing.
In October, the Supreme Court heard arguments from those who support and others who oppose same-sex marriage. Those who supported its legalization emphasized that making marriage gender-specific is discriminatory. In response, those against legalization argued that the primary social purpose of marriage is procreation, and that same-sex marriages would not fulfill that.
ACLU New Mexico Legal Director Laura Ives said the court outlawed discrimination of same-sex couples by issuing the ruling.
“This is justice moving very quickly,” she said. “Protective rights are not subject to popular vote. As the court stated, one’s right for life, liberty and property … may not be submitted to vote. They depend on the outcome of no elections. The court has a duty to protect our constitutional rights and to end any discriminatory treatment. They met that duty today.”
But James Campbell, the lawyer who represented the Legislature in October’s hearing, said in a statement that the statewide approval of same-sex marriage should have been put on the ballot for New Mexican residents to vote.
“This unfortunate result prevents New Mexicans from deciding the future of marriage—its very definition as well as its role in society—through an inclusive democratic process,” he said. “Regrettably, the court constitutionalized a view of marriage previously unknown in the Land of Enchantment and never chosen by the people.”
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Campbell continued in the statement to insist on marriages’ procreation aspect.
“The government’s purpose for recognizing marriage is to bring together one man and one woman as husband and wife to be a father and a mother to any children their union produces,” he said. “The New Mexico Supreme Court ignored that time-tested understanding of marriage and replaced it with the recently conceived notion that marriage means special government recognition for close relationships.”
Still, same-sex couples felt victorious about the passage of same-sex marriage. Mass celebratory gatherings in Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Las Cruces are planned for Thursday night following the Supreme Court issued the ruling.
Ona Porter, who was among the plaintiffs of the Supreme Court case with her 26-year partner Miriam Rand, said she is “thrilled beyond words.”
“Emotionally, we had been a marginalized population for a very long time,” Porter said. “The ability to really celebrate our love for one another is probably more important than the legal benefit of marriage.”
Rand and Porter were having lunch at a restaurant when they got a call from a friend telling of the news, Porter said. They planned to head to Taos for vacation but cancelled to celebrate the ruling in Albuquerque, she said.
At the moment, about 1,700 same-sex couples have already obtained a marriage licenses statewide, said Maureen Sanders, an attorney who worked on the case with ACLU New Mexico. She said the ruling will require the state government to recognize any same-sex marriage license issued from out of state and extend the same benefit to those couple.
The ruling also allows same-sex couples to enjoy several federal social security and tax benefits before the end of 2013, Sanders said.
“It’s really important for couples in the state of New Mexico that this happened before the end of the year because there are tax consequences,” she said.
The ruling will not force religious organizations or churches to solemnize same-sex marriage or to conduct ceremonies.
Rand said she expected the court to ultimately approve same-sex marriage.
“We thought we were heading this direction,” she said. “We would have continued to fight, had we been incorrect about that. We thought that not only public sentiment but also legal sentiment was heading in our direction.”
Porter said she is optimistic that in the near future, the entire nation will recognize same-sex marriages.
“Seventeen out of 50 states is pretty significant,” she said. “Now the arc of justice is tipping in our favor.”
