Since last week upwards of 200 marriage licenses and counting have been issued to same-sex couples in New Mexico, where same-sex marriage has neither been explicitly legalized nor explicitly banned. The existing law there is gender neutral: “Marriage is contemplated by the law as a civil contract, for which the consent of the contracting parties, capable in law of contracting, is essential.”
It’s set up a fascinating situation. One county clerk begin granting licenses to same-sex couples last week of his own volition. Since then state court judges in lawsuits brought by same-sex couples have ordered the county clerks in two other counties to begin issuing same-sex marriage licenses. The most recent of the two court orders came down late yesterday and involves Bernalillo County, which includes Albuquerque, the state’s largest city. The three counties now granting same-sex marriage licenses account for roughly half of the state’s population.
This will eventually wend its way to the state Supreme Court, maybe sooner than later. But by then it’s likely that hundreds more marriage licenses will have been issued and dozens if not hundreds of same-sex marriages performed. By then, it will be very hard to unwind.
