Gay Marriage Developments in New Mexico

I wrote a little about New Mexico last month. That state is one of the only states that does not explicitly ban or permit same-sex marriage. A court challenge by gay and lesbian couples seeking the rights, responsibilities, and protections of marriage has been ongoing, but there have been lots of developments this week!

On Wednesday the 21st, the Dona Ana County clerk began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. This was in response to legal opinions supportive of marriage equality by both the City of Santa Fe and New Mexico's attorney general. That was followed by a statement later in the day from New Mexico state Attorney General Gary King indicating that he will not challenge any of these same-sex marriage licenses. He did warn that all of these marriage might eventually be ruled invalid by the New Mexico Supreme Court -- one of the main reasons why I personally would never apply for a marriage in a situation like this. Then late yesterday, a New Mexico district judge ordered the Santa Fe County clerk to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in that county. Finally, we learned today that roughly two dozen Republican state representatives plan to file a lawsuit to stop Dona Ana County from issuing any more marriage license to same-sex couples.

*Whew!*

For the record, apparently 91 same-sex couples have applied for marriage licenses in Dona Ana County since Wednesday. I have no clue how many have applied for marriage licenses in Sante Fe County.