Same-sex marriage in New Mexico

[29] On January 22, Representative Nora Espinoza, a Republican, introduced House Joint Resolution 4, which would have put a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage to a popular vote in November 2014.

[31] On March 1, 2019, the New Mexico Senate passed a bill by a vote of 39–0 replacing all references to "husband and wife" in state statutes with the gender-neutral term "spouses".

She sought advice from several state officials for several days without success and decided to issue licenses to same-sex couples beginning on February 20.

"[35] The Sandoval County Courthouse was quickly thronged by same-sex couples applying for marriage licenses when Dunlap's decision was reported.

[45] On August 21, 2013, officials in Doña Ana County began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples at the courthouse in Las Cruces.

Doña Ana County Clerk Lynn Ellins announced the change of policy, stating, "After careful review of New Mexico's laws it is clear that the state's marriage statutes are gender neutral and do not expressly prohibit Doña Ana County from issuing marriage licenses to same-gender couples.

[48][49] A group of Republican state legislators announced their intention to seek a court order to stop the county from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples; Sharer v.

Attorney General Gary King, a Democrat, said his office would take no action to stop Ellins from issuing licenses to same-sex couples.

[53][54] However, Santa Fe County Clerk Geraldine Salazar said she would not issue them until the law was clarified by state courts or the New Mexico Legislature.

"[60][61] On August 27, Los Alamos County Clerk Sharon Stover said she would not issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples until she received a court order instructing her to do so.

The statements contained on the marriage license that is issued by the Clerk's office, as set forth in State law, requires a male and female or bride and groom applicant.

It 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.On September 4, after hearing Stover's arguments, Raphaelson ordered her to issue the marriage licenses.

[7] Robert Zamarripa, the Grant County Clerk, said on August 27 that he was waiting for instructions from a court of law before issuing same-sex marriage licenses.

[69] On August 31, in Gering v. New Mexico,[70] the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against Garbagni and the state on behalf of a lesbian couple who were denied a marriage license.

[75] On August 16, the plaintiffs filed a second amended complaint, adding one more couple seeking relief, while also claiming that New Mexico's refusal to recognize their marriages "deprives [the plaintiffs] of hundreds of protections, benefits, and obligations of marriage that the federal government now provides to married same-sex couples in light of the United States Supreme Court's decision in United States v.

"[76] On August 26, District Court Judge Alan M. Malott ruled for the plaintiffs, finding that prohibiting the issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples "[is] unconstitutional and unenforceable under Article II, Section 18, New Mexico Constitution."

[80][81] On September 5, an attorney for the New Mexico Association of Counties filed a request on the clerks' behalf to be allowed to intervene in Griego v. Oliver.

[89] On December 19, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the Constitution of New Mexico required the extension of marriage rights to same-sex couples.

"[94] In response to the Supreme Court decision, Senator Bill Sharer proposed a joint resolution that, if passed by both chambers of the New Mexico Legislature, would have put a constitutional amendment defining marriage as "a union of one man and one woman" to a popular vote.

On January 6, 2014, Governor Martinez said she would not support efforts to reverse the Supreme Court's decision by enacting a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

[98] On July 22, Attorney General King told the court that "New Mexico's guarantee of equal protection to its citizens demands that same-sex couples be permitted to enjoy the benefits of marriage in the same way and to the same extent as other New Mexico citizens", but he argued that the court lacked the authority to order a county clerk to issue the marriage license as the plaintiffs had requested, which only officers of the state's executive branch could do.

[80] On August 22, 2013, New Mexico District Judge Sarah Singleton ordered Salazar to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples or show cause why the county should not comply.

On August 29, 2013, in Sharer v. Ellins, seven Republican state legislators–senators William Sharer and Steven Neville, and representatives David Gallegos, Jimmie C. Hall, Yvette Herrell, Dennis Roch, and James Strickler–filed a lawsuit in the Third Judicial District Court against Doña Ana County Clerk Lynn Ellins seeking an immediate stay of the issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Following the court's ruling in Griego on December 19, both the state legislators and Ellins asked Judge Arrieta to dismiss the case.

A bill to legalize same-sex marriage was introduced to the Navajo Nation Council by Delegate Eugene Tso of Chinle in July 2022.

[108] While there are no records of same-sex marriages as understood from a Western perspective being performed in Native American cultures, there is evidence for identities and behaviours that may be placed on the LGBT spectrum.

Many of these cultures recognized two-spirit individuals who were born male but wore women's clothing and performed everyday household work and artistic handiwork which were regarded as belonging to the feminine sphere.

Associated with prosperity and believed to have originated in the third world of the Holy People, the nádleehi directed the planting and the fieldwork, and generally functioned as head of a household.

[109][112] In 2006, a study by the Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles concluded that allowing same-sex couples to marry would have a positive effect on New Mexico's state budget.

[113] This net impact would be the result of savings in expenditures on state means-tested public benefit programs and an increase in sales and lodging tax revenue from weddings and wedding-related tourism.