Same-Sex Couples Ask N.M. Supreme Court for Marriage Recognition

ACLU helping represent them

Late Tuesday, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico, ACLU national, the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), Albuquerque law firm Sutin, Thayer & Brown PC and Albuquerque attorneys Maureen Sanders, Kate Girard and Lynn Perls filed a writ of mandamus with the New Mexico State Supreme Court seeking a ruling on the issue of whether same-sex couples can marry in the State of New Mexico. The writ also asks the court to clarify that New Mexico respects the marriages of same-sex New Mexico couples who married in another state, which is necessary to ensure that those couples qualify for all of the federal programs that are now available to married same-sex couples as a result of the United States Supreme Court decision last week invalidating the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

"The United States Supreme Court's decision to overturn DOMA has increased our sense of urgency to clarify the ability of same-sex couples to marry in New Mexico," said ACLU-NM Executive Director Peter Simonson. "With all barriers to federal recognition removed, our State cannot stand by as thousands of same-sex couples, many of whom were married out of state, continue to be denied those protections."