New Mexico Could Legalize Gay Marriage As Early As Next Month

New Mexico could become the 14^th state to legalize gay marriage as early as next month.

The New Mexico Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear a case challenging the state's laws on marriage. Oral arguments are set to be heard on October 23. And the court could hand down a ruling immediately after hearing arguments from lawyers in the case or it could wait.

More than 900 marriage licenses have been issued in New Mexico since Dona Ana County Clerk Lynn Ellins decided on August 21 without a court order that it was legal in New Mexico for gay and lesbian couples to marry. As of next week, seven counties, representing nearly 60 percent of the state's population, will join Dona Ana in issuing such licenses.

(Related: Donors sought to pay legal bills in New Mexico gay marriage lawsuit.)

New Mexico's 33 counties and county clerks on Thursday petitioned the Supreme Court to review a state district judge's ruling declaring it unconstitutional to deny a gay couple a marriage license. The judge based his decision on a 1972 voter-approved constitutional amendment which prohibits discrimination “on account of the sex of any person.”

Steve Kopelman, lawyer for the county group, told the AP that county clerks were “looking for a uniform answer.”

“There's a controversy here. This is not a simple issue legally. But we're not weighing in on the moral issue. We're weighing in on the law,” Kopelman said.

New Mexico is the only state in the union that neither explicitly authorizes nor prohibits gay nuptials.