LGBT News Gay Marriage starts in New Mexico

New Mexico law says nothing expressly permitting or forbidding gay marriage. The marriage very well could hold up.

 

NM Governor has already said they will seek a ballot measure for 2014 that would ban gay marriage. Another Prop 8 situation?

 

I've read some opinions that New Mexico's individual counties would be able to decide whether to allow marriage equality or not. I'm surprised that it took this long for any issue to arrive in the state due to the ambiguity of the law.

 

Wow, individual counties...what a mess! And here I thought it was bad enough leaving one state in which you're married, and moving to another where you can't be. But being married and not married as you cross county lines? I've seen everything!

NM has a real jerk for a Governor, right now. A kind of toned down version of the one over in Arizona.

 

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, same-sex marriage has long been legal in New Mexico. Longer than Massachusetts, and long before Baker v. Nelson in Minnesota in the early 70's. New Mexico's long-standing marriage law reads:

"Marriage is contemplated by the law as a civil contract, for which the consent of the contracting parties, capable in law of contracting, is essential.

"All marriages celebrated beyond the limits of this state, which are valid according to the laws of the country wherein they were celebrated or contracted, shall be likewise valid in this state, and shall have the same force as if they had been celebrated in accordance with the laws in force in this state."

So unless a legal contract can only be entered into by a man and a woman, same-sex marriage is legal in New Mexico. Out-of-state gay marriages are explicitly legal under that statute. Though it only says "country," I read that a couple who got married in Massachusetts were granted a divorce in New Mexico because their marriage was valid where it was entered into. Even if it has to be in a different country, a few hours spent with Air Canada will solve that problem.

---------- Post added 22nd Aug 2013 at 08:54 PM ----------

No chance of that happening. Democrats hold a 57% majority in the New Mexico House of Representatives, and a 2/3 supermajority in the New Mexico Senate.

---------- Post added 22nd Aug 2013 at 09:12 PM ----------

And that being said about a vote, a quick look at Ballotpedia reveals that the New Mexico Legislature has the power to put a statute change up to a vote with a simple majority vote, and it has nothing to do with the governor. For example, the ballot question would look like this:

"Should New Mexico Law be amended to read:

'Marriage is contemplated by the law as a civil contract between two persons regardless of gender or gender identity, for which the consent of the contracting parties, capable in law of contracting, is essential.

_____ Yes

_____ No"

 

Well that's good news.

 

I wonder how the vote would go...seems like it would pass.

My biggest fear would be the Mormon's pumping in tons of money to try to stop it.They're running around like wild, out in those parts.

But even if the language remained the same, the courts could still be able to rule favorably.

 

45% of New Mexicans support gay marriage, and 42% oppose. Could go either way.

---------- Post added 22nd Aug 2013 at 10:02 PM ----------

Meanwhile in Hawaii, it's just been announced that there are enough votes in the Hawaii House of Representatives to pass a marriage bill. Democrats have a 96% majority in the Senate, 24 Democrats, 1 Republican, so it's safe to assume it would pass in the Senate.

Hawaii in 1998 passed a constitutional amendment that stated, "The Legislature shall have the right to reserve marriage to opposite-sex couples." The Legislature can choose not to exercise that right at any time.

It's surprising that there would be this much opposition to gay marriage in a state with a Legislature that's 91% Democratic.

---------- Post added 22nd Aug 2013 at 10:05 PM ----------

A good site to watch for updates on this stuff is MarriageNewsWatch. They post a new video on YouTube every Monday.