Los Alamos County Clerk Sharon Stover on Wednesday was ordered by
a judge to begin issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian
couples, making Los Alamos the eighth county to do so in recent
weeks.
Stover was ordered last week by District Court Judge Sheri
Raphaelson to begin issuing such licenses or appear before the court
to explain why that should not happen. Stover, a Republican, decided
to fight the order, saying that the state's marriage license “does
not work for same-sex couples, and that is a matter for the
Legislature to fix, not a clerk and not a district judge.”
Janet Newton and Maria Thibodeau filed the case after Stover's
office denied them a license. The couple received their marriage
license shortly after Raphaelson ruled.
According to the AP, Stover did not say whether she would appeal
the ruling.
The availability of marriage licenses in New Mexico broadened
quickly following Dona Ana County Clerk Lynn Ellins' August 21
decision without a court order to issue marriage licenses to gay
couples.
A group of GOP lawmakers, led by state Senator William Sharer,
have filed a lawsuit seeking to block Ellins from issuing additional
marriage licenses.
(Related: New
Mexico GOPer William Sharer: Gay men should stop “whoring,” marry
women.)