New Mexico Supreme Court announces date for marriage hearing

At last, after so many years of uncertainty about laws concerning the freedom to marry, same-sex couples and marriage supporters in New Mexico will soon know whether all families in the Land of Enchantment will have the freedom to marry.

The New Mexico Supreme Court has announced that it has set a date for hearing about whether same-sex couples have the freedom to marry in New Mexico. The court will hear oral arguments in a case brought by the ACLU of New Mexico on behalf of six same-sex couples on October 23. 

Over the course of the last month, eight New Mexico counties have extended the freedom to marry to same-sex couples: Bernalillo County, Santa Fe County, Taos County, Doña Ana County, San Miguel County, Los Alamos County, Grant County, and Valencia County. Some counties began issuing marriage licences after being ordered by district courts, and in others, county clerks followed the lead of these rulings and acted independently. The decisions ordering the issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples are based on the gender-neutral language in the state's marriage law.

Hundreds of same-sex couples have already tied the knot in the state.

It's well past time for the freedom to marry across the state of New Mexico. The New Mexico Attorney General Gary King has already stated multiple times that any attempts to bar same-sex couples from marrying in New Mexico is unconstitutional, and now a state-wide decision is essential, and now, it's time for state officials to provide clarity. It's time for the Court to rule what we already know: That there's no good reason to exclude same-sex couples from marriage and that same-sex couples throughout New Mexico should have the freedom to marry.

Freedom to Marry is proud to partner with Equality New Mexico on a public education campaign to build support for marriage across the state of New Mexico as legal teams continue making the case for equality through litigation in the courts. 

Learn more about marriage in New Mexico HERE.