A New Mexico district judge has ordered Santa Fe County to issue
marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples.
According
to the AP, Judge Sarah Singleton ruled in a lawsuit filed by two
Santa Fe men that they can legally marry in the state.
In her ruling, Singleton ordered Santa Fe County Clerk Geraldine
Salazar to begin issuing such licenses or appear before the court to
explain her decision.
The order comes just two days after Dona Ana County Clerk Lynn
Ellins began issuing marriage licenses to gay couples. And a day
after the
state's highest court ruled that a business could not discriminate
against same-sex couples.
(Related: New
Mexico Republicans to sue clerk issuing marriage licenses to gay
couples.)
Longtime partners Alexander Hanna and Von Hudson filed their
lawsuit in July after the county denied them a marriage license.
Santa Fae Attorney General Geno Zamora said earlier in a legal
memo that he believes gay couples can legally marry in New Mexico.
“New Mexico's statutory definition of marriage is
gender-neutral. Since New Mexico does not define marriage as between
a man and a woman, and since New Mexico does not prohibit same-sex
marriage, same-sex marriage is permitted in New Mexico,” Zamora
wrote.
His opinion was the impetus behind a resolution approved by the
Santa Fe City Council declaring such unions legal in the state and
urging county clerks to issue marriage licenses to gay couples.
In a filing to the case, New Mexico Attorney General Gary King, a
Democrat who is planning a bid for governor, called New Mexico's
prohibition unconstitutional. He has also refused to take legal
action to stop the Dona Ana county clerk from issuing additional
licenses to gay couples.