Same-sex marriage became legally recognized statewide in New Mexico through a ruling of the New Mexico Supreme Court on December 19, 2013, requiring county clerks to issue marriage licenses to all qualified couples regardless of gender. Until then, same-sex couples could only obtain marriage licenses in certain counties of the state. Eight of the 33 counties, covering 58% of the state's population, had begun issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in August and September 2013. New Mexico's marriage statute was not specific as to gender, and it was the only state lacking a state statute or constitutional provision explicitly addressing same-sex marriage. Lacking a state law or judicial ruling concerning same-sex marriage prior to December 19, 2013, policy for the issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples was determined at the county level at the discretion of local issuing authorities i.e., some counties recognized same-sex marriage and issued marriage licenses to same-sex couples, while others did not.
A small number of same-sex marriages were licensed in Sandoval County in 2004. The practice was halted later that same day, February 20, after New Mexico Attorney General Patricia A. Madrid issued a ruling that they were invalid. On August 21, 2013, the county clerk of Doña Ana County, on his own initiative, began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Later in the month, three district judges ruling on separate lawsuits ordered first Santa Fe County, then Bernalillo County, and then Taos County, to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, with a fourth judge ordering the same in Grant County in September. A similar ruling was made in Los Alamos County, where the county clerk said she would not comply with the order until it was upheld on September 4, the first time a New Mexican judge affirmed a ruling for same-sex marriage after it had been challenged. Meanwhile, county clerks in San Miguel and Valencia counties altered marriage licenses for same-sex couples.
On August 29, 2013, New Mexico's county clerks voted unanimously to ask the New Mexico Supreme Court to rule on the legality of same-sex marriage and the Supreme Court held a hearing on their petition on October 23. On December 19, 2013, that court issued a unanimous decision in Griego v. Oliver holding that marriage licenses must be issued to couples without respect to gender, making New Mexico the sixteenth U.S. state to legalize same-sex marriage.
Statutes Unlike many states, New Mexico never passed a law banning same-sex marriage. In 1996, the U.S. Congress enacted the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA; ) which banned federal recognition of same-sex marriages. New Mexico never enacted a similar law at the state level. State statutes define marriage as follows:
Additionally, state statutes read the following in relation to the legal status of marriages from other jurisdictions:
In July 2007, a Massachusetts court determined that New Mexico did not have a statute banning same-sex marriage and therefore same-sex couples that were resident in New Mexico could marry in Massachusetts. State Representative Al Park raised the issue a few years later, posing a formal inquiry to the New Mexico Attorney General, Gary K. King, who offered his view on January 4, 2011, that "a same-sex marriage that is valid under the laws of the country or state where it was consummated would likely be valid in New Mexico." A spokesman for Governor Susana Martinez responded by noting noted "that no New Mexico court has ruled on this issue". The advocacy group Freedom to Marry complained that New Mexico had yet to respond to the Massachusetts ruling even though, in its view, "New Mexico's laws do not prohibit marriage between same-sex couples".
The plaintiffs in Griego v. Oliver argued when they initiated their lawsuit in March 2013 that the failure of New Mexico's statutes to specify the gender of the parties to a marriage contract and their gender-neutral language allowed state officials to interpret them to allow them to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. When the New Mexico Supreme Court issued its decision in that case on December 19, 2013, the court unanimously held:
Legislative efforts Legislation that would allow or prohibit same-sex marriage, or that would provide for domestic partnerships, was introduced several times in the late 2000s and early 2010s. In January 2008, a domestic partnership bill, House Bill 9,Text of House Bill 9. advocated by Governor Bill Richardson as part of his legislative agenda, passed the New Mexico House of Representatives by a 33 to 31 vote and was sent to the Senate, which took no action on it. A similar bill had been defeated in the 2007 legislative session. House Bill 47, providing that marriage may only be between "a man and a woman", and House Joint Resolution 3, proposing a constitutional amendment to define marriage as being between "a man and a woman", both died when the New Mexico Legislature adjourned sine die on February 14, 2008, without acting on them.
On February 27, 2009, domestic partnership legislation that would have granted both same-sex and opposite-sex couples many of the same rights of marriage was voted down in the Senate by a 17–25 margin, with 10 Democrats and 15 Republicans opposing the legislation. Supported by Governor Bill Richardson, supporters vowed to take up the issue again sometime later in 2009. On February 15, 2010, a domestic partnership bill sponsored by Senator Peter Wirth was defeated in a Senate committee, "[striking] a blow to Richardson, who made extending many of the same rights enjoyed by married couples to gays and lesbians part of his legislative agenda." A proposed constitutional amendment sponsored by Senator William Sharer that would have limited marriage to opposite-sex couples was defeated by another Senate committee.
On January 22, 2013, Representative Brian Egolf introduced a resolution (House Joint Resolution 3), which would have put a constitutional amendment allowing same-sex marriage to a popular vote in November 2014. He said, "This will be the law sooner than people think." The measure's co-sponsors included another Santa Fe Democrat, Representative Stephen Easley. It required approval by both houses of the New Mexico Legislature. On January 31, the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee approved the measure in a 3–2 vote. On February 21, the Voters and Elections Committee defeated it on a 4–7 vote. 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. A committee failed to approve it in a 2–3 vote on February 5. The Legislature ended its legislative session on February 20, 2014, without taking any further action on the resolution.
On March 1, 2019, the New Mexico Senate passed a bill by a vote of 39–0 replacing references to "husband and wife" in state property statutes with the gender-neutral term "spouses". The House approved the legislation 62–0 on March 16. It was signed into law by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and went into effect on July 1, 2019.
Local jurisdictions
Due to perceived ambiguity in New Mexico's laws regarding marriage, counties in the state differed in their treatment of same-sex couples seeking marriage licenses prior to the New Mexico Supreme Court ruling on December 19, 2013.
2004 Sandoval County marriages On February 20, 2004, at the time of the widely publicized same-sex weddings in San Francisco, California, the Sandoval County Clerk, Victoria Dunlap, a married Republican with two children, began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Dunlap had called the county attorney for input after receiving an inquiry about issuing a marriage license to a same-sex couple. The county attorney found that gender was only mentioned on the marriage license application form and advised her to consult the Attorney General, Patricia A. Madrid. 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. She told the Albuquerque Journal: "This has nothing to do with politics or morals. If there are no legal grounds that say this should be prohibited, I can't withhold it. ... This office won't say no until shown it's not permissible."
The Sandoval County Courthouse was quickly thronged by same-sex couples applying for marriage licenses when Dunlap's decision was reported. Two local ministers officiated at marriage ceremonies for 26 couples on the courthouse steps on February 20. According to a suit filed against Dunlap in July by the Attorney General, 66 licenses had been issued and by March 23 some 64 of the couples had married "as evidenced by the return and filing of licenses and certificates of marriage".Motion to Dismiss, State of New Mexico v. Victoria Dunlap .Petition for Writ of Mandamus, State of New Mexico v. Victoria Dunlap .
Later that day, Attorney General Madrid issued an opinion stating that the licenses were "invalid under state law", citing the license application form and several statutes and court decisions. The Sandoval County Clerk's Office stopped issuing them the same day. The Sandoval County Commission voted on February 23 to allow couples married on the 20th to register their marriages. A district court judge later issued a restraining order against Dunlap, prohibiting her from issuing any further licenses to same-sex couples for the duration of her term as county clerk, which ended on January 1, 2005. Dunlap then filed a motion with the New Mexico Supreme Court for permission to continue issuing the licenses, but on July 8, 2004, the court rejected the motion. The restraining order was never lifted. County and state officials criticized Dunlap, and the Sandoval County Republican Central Committee censured her and said she "brought disgrace to the party as a whole". Dunlap did not seek reelection.
The validity of the same-sex marriages licensed in 2004 remained uncertain, though in 2010 a New Mexico court approved a divorce for one of the marriages. On August 9, 2010, State District Judge Sarah Singleton ruled that the marriage license issued to one same-sex couple in 2004 was valid and subject to divorce proceedings, but she did not otherwise address the legal status of same-sex marriage in the state. On August 28, 2013, Attorney General Gary King said the licenses remain "presumptively valid" until a court rules otherwise.
2013 developments Counties issuing marriage licenses