The Floodgates of same-sex marriage continue to open in New Mexico: This afternoon a District court hearing in Albuquerque gave the go ahead for marriage licenses for same-sex couples in Bernalillo County.
Malott issued the dramatic order after a brief hearing in 2nd Judicial District Court in Albuquerque.
The judge ordered the clerks of Bernalillo County and Santa Fe County to follow their statutory duty and issue marriage licenses “without regard to the couples’ sexual orientation or gender.
Malott said any seeming prohibitions in New Mexico statutes against same-sex marriage “are unconstitutional and unenforceable.”
Read District Judge Alan Malott Order: 20130826_161454
They plan to start issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples at 8 a.m. Tuesday.
Laura Schauer Ives, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico, called it a “monumental ruling” and said the group didn’t expect such a broad decision by the judge.
“We were stunned and amazed,” she said.
Monday morning, couples were lined up in Santa Fe waiting for the clerk’s office to open. Before noon, another 64 same-sex couples had received licenses there.
Also last week, Doña Ana County clerk Lynn Ellins began on his own issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. He started issuing the licenses Wednesday. Ellins said 137 couples from around the state and from neighboring Texas got licenses last week, and 12 more had received them by midmorning Monday.