Conservative ‘Christian’ Student Whines About Classmate’s Jesus Story, Forces Teacher To Resign

A New Mexico teacher no longer has a job because a crazy religious student whined about a story written by a classmate about Jesus.

The creative writing assignment was given to all students in Katrina Guarascio’s class at Cleveland High School in Rio Rancho. The students were supposed to re-write a fairy tale or legend in a modern setting. Naturally, a student chose to make Jesus the main character of their story. In the story, Jesus hands out medical marijuana to the sick.

But upon trading stories with their fellow classmates for review, a religious student decided to complain and used the situation in an attempt to get her teacher fired. She ran to her mommy and daddy, who then created a firestorm by whining to school officials. Guarascio was put on administrative leave pending an investigation, as if she had absolute control about what her students would choose as their topic in creative writing.

“I don’t take any personal offense, Guarascio told KOAT-TV. “It’s not written for me, it’s written for them. It’s how they can express themselves.”

Guarascio also claims “the student who complained actually boasted to her classmates about how she was ‘going to get her teacher fired.'”

Nevertheless, school communications director Kim Vesely accused the 8 year veteran teacher of not being “professional” in the classroom, even though the two women had never met or been in the same room together. Rather than spend all her time fighting the school because of the religious temper tantrum of a snotty little teenage brat, Guarascio resigned. Guarascio says she felt harassed and targeted but hopes this doesn’t stem the creativity of students at the school.

“If they have something to say, say it,” she said. “Not everyone’s going to agree with you, but that doesn’t make your point invalid or worthless. Tell your story.”

Here’s the video via YouTube.

This is a clear case of what an assault on freedom of speech looks like when the assault is initiated by “Christian” extremists. It’s not like the teacher was telling her students that Jesus supports marijuana. A student followed the assignment and wrote a creative story about Jesus, who probably would hand out medical marijuana to help sick patients to alleviate their pain and suffering from diseases like cancer.

The religious student clearly had a vendetta against her teacher and was just waiting for an opportunity to cry to her parents about something that didn’t really even involve her. If she objected to the story, all she had to do is simply decline to review it. But apparently, this girl hasn’t learned about turning the other cheek. This school district owes Guarascio a public apology and the vengeful little religious brat needs to be punished in some way for causing an unnecessary school disruption.

Is this what we can expect now from “Christian” fundamentalist kids across the country? Their answer for seeing or reading something they don’t like is to whine about it until their parents complain and the teacher loses their job? Will science teachers now have to fear for their jobs since it’s pretty obvious that “Christian” students won’t like learning about evolution and basic reproductive biology?

This is why schools are having a harder time finding and keeping great teachers.

Gate A-4

By Naomi Shihab Nye:

Wandering around the Albuquerque Airport Terminal, after learning my flight had been delayed four hours, I heard an announcement: “If anyone in the vicinity of Gate A-4 understands any Arabic, please come to the gate immediately.” Well— one pauses these days. Gate A-4 was my own gate. I went there.

An older woman in full traditional Palestinian embroidered dress, just like my grandma wore, was crumpled to the floor, wailing. “Help,” said the flight agent. “Talk to her . What is her problem? We told her the flight was going to be late and she did this.”

I stooped to put my arm around the woman and spoke haltingly. “Shu-dow-a, shu-bid-uck, habibti? Stani schway, min fadlick, shu-bit-se-wee?” The minute she heard any words she knew, however poorly used, she stopped crying. She thought the flight had been cancelled entirely. She needed to be in El Paso for major medical treatment the next day. I said, “No, we’re fine, you’ll get there, just late, who is picking you up? Let’s call him.”

We called her son, I spoke with him in English. I told him I would stay with his mother till we got on the plane. She talked to him. Then we called her other sons just for the fun of it. Then we called my dad and he and she spoke for a while in Arabic and found out of course they had ten shared friends. Then I thought just for the heck of it why not call some Palestinian poets I know and let them chat with her? This all took up two hours.

She was laughing a lot by then. Telling about her life, patting my knee, answering questions. She had pulled a sack of homemade mamool cookies— little powdered sugar crumbly mounds stuffed with dates and nuts— from her bag and was offering them to all the women at the gate. To my amazement, not a single traveler declined one. It was like a sacrament. The traveler from Argentina, the mom from California, the lovely woman from Laredo— we were all covered with the same powdered sugar. And smiling. There is no better cookie.

Then the airline broke out free apple juice and two little girls from our flight ran around serving it and they were covered with powdered sugar too. And I noticed my new best friend— by now we were holding hands— had a potted plant poking out of her bag, some medicinal thing, with green furry leaves. Such an old country traveling tradition. Always carry a plant. Always stay rooted to somewhere.

And I looked around that gate of late and weary ones and thought, This is the world I want to live in. The shared world. Not a single person in that gate— once the crying of confusion stopped— seemed apprehensive about any other person. They took the cookies. I wanted to hug all those other women too.

This can still happen anywhere. Not everything is lost.

Gay marriage, now legal in Arizona, not recognized by Navajo Nation

Nathaniel George said that he knew he was going to marry his husband the first time he laid eyes on him more than eight years ago. Being Navajo and a Flagstaff resident, the chance of them getting legally married in Arizona or on the reservation wasn’t likely.

But George and his partner, George Almaraz, were among the first same-sex couples wed in Coconino County on Oct. 17, the day a federal judge overturned Arizona’s ban.

Though the fight for marriage equality has ended in Arizona, it continues for same-sex couples living in the Navajo Nation, which makes up more than 20 percent of the state but isn’t subject to its laws.

The Diné Marriage Act, passed in 2005 by the Navajo Nation Council, defines marriage as between a man and a woman. And current Navajo President Ben Shelly has said he’s against changing it.

But George said he believes this will change soon with same-sex marriage now legal in Arizona as well as New Mexico, which also has part of the reservation.

“All we can do is keep pushing forward and bringing it up with each president,” George said. “I feel it’s going to happen one day, and hopefully sooner than later. It would be nice to be married in the settings of where we live.”

Navajos who wished to get married to their same-sex partners before Oct. 17 had to go to other states like California. That’s what Jack Jackson Jr., a Navajo and former Arizona state senator, did when he and his husband got married six years ago.

With same-sex marriage now legal in Arizona, Jackson said he believes the issue of marriage equality has gained momentum in the Navajo Nation, which is electing a new president.

“There has been talk of people trying to make it an issue,” Jackson said. “What happened in Arizona – I think you’ll see that effort gain more traction. We’ll see what transpires in the months to come. I do think we’ll see something.”

Deswood Tome, an aide to Shelly, said there’s no term in Navajo for a gay union and that it’s not a big enough issue for the president to consider right now.

“It’s sacrilege to talk like that,” Tome said. “There’s not enough volition by those who are supporting same-sex marriage to take it to the chapter houses or Navajo Nation Council. I don’t think that is a priority of the leader of Navajo Nation. Economic prosperity, health, natural resources … these are priorities.”

Though Shelly doesn’t support gay marriage in the Navajo Nation, Tome said, he does support any Navajo’s choice to go elsewhere to get married.

“The president has said before that if individual Navajo people want to go into another state and get married, he will support individual choice,” Tome said. “But the law is the law today, and the president will uphold the law.”

Jackson said electing a new tribal president is one reason for his optimism. Shelly was ousted in the primary election, and one of the remaining candidates is former president Joe Shirley Jr., who vetoed the gay marriage ban in 2005 but was overridden by the Navajo Nation Council.

With Shirley running for president again and the opinions of same-sex marriage changing, Jackson said he doesn’t think the idea of marriage equality is too far-fetched for the Navajo Nation.

“People’s attitudes are changing,” he said. “Nobody thought we would be seeing it in Arizona and here we are.”

The Coalition for Navajo Equality in New Mexico has been rallying for a change since that state lifted its ban on same-sex marriage last December. The group’s founder, Alray Nelson, said that while the issue hasn’t been at the forefront even with same-sex marriage becoming legal in Arizona he expects it will be eventually will be as new tribal council members and a new president take office.

“Overall, our people are very compassionate and when – I say when – we do repeal the Diné Marriage Act, it will be very positive on Navajo families,” he said.

'Singing road' on Route 66 in New Mexico designed to keep drivers at speed limit

It's been a tough journey for Mary Kay Friedline, but despite everything she's been through, she's looking forward to the road ahead.

"I'm a survivor, a breast cancer survivor and a four-time cancer survivor, and any day that we get up and get to enjoy the sun on our face - the air in our hair - is a good day," said Friedline.

Mary never thought an actual road would make her already-good drive home a great one until she drove on a scenic stretch of Route 66 near Tijeras.

"I noticed it's a rumble strip, and so I drove over it and it played a tune - and I couldn't stop laughing," she exclaimed.

That tune is "America the Beautiful."

The song is embedded in a rumble strip, so if you go too fast or too slow, you can't hear it.

The New Mexico Transportation Department says the goal of this singing road is to enforce good driver behavior by giving them a reward for obeying the speed limit.

Mary appreciates the safety features of the road, but says she really enjoys the laughter she gets from it.

"Laughter is the best medicine in the world. Just be grateful, be thankful and do what you can to help someone else," said Mary.

Who knows, maybe if you hit this spot on Route 66, the singing road might help put a smile on your face, too.

In New Mexico, Same-Sex Marriage Makes History

In the nine months that marriage equality came to New Mexico, a full 55% of the marriage licenses issued in the state have been to same-sex couples.

In August 2013, a few "rogue" county clerks in New Mexico, which had never passed a marriage amendment to the state constitution, began issuing same-sex couples marriage licenses. The following December, the New Mexico State Supreme Court ruled same-sex couples in the state did indeed have the right to marry, and the floodgates opened. Since that time, New Mexico clerks have been issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples at an amazing rate. The Human Rights Campaign reported that in the months since marriage equality came to New Mexico, the state issued 2,524 marriage licenses, 1,388 of them to same-sex couples. 

Part of that number is due to the fact that there were so many couples waiting for years to wed - like the couple on the left, Chayne and Russell from Albuquerque, who had been together 20 years before finally being able to make their commitment legal. But another large part of that statistic is due to the fact that New Mexico, the first and only equality state in the South, has become a beacon for same-sex couples from neighboring states. In Sante Fe County alone, about 400 Texas couples and 200 couples from Oklahoma made the trip to New Mexico to get married.

New Mexico merchants have capitalized on the influx of marriage-minded same-sex couples, turning the state into a "destination wedding" locale. Santa Fe businesses have even hosted a LGBT Wedding Expo that included exhibits from wedding-related businesses like travel agencies, photographers, cake makers, jewelers and hair stylists. The Wedding Expo included live music from wedding bands, a cake tasting and a fashion show. Hundreds of same-sex couples from nearby states attended. 

Note to businesses in non-equality states: Tell your state representatives to support marriage equality. The flag may be rainbow, but the money is green. 

Well done, New Mexico. Well done.

4 (of MANY)Reasons NOT to Vote for Susana Martinez

It is time to wake up New Mexico! Why does one of the most corrupt governors in the entire country have a chance in hell to be re-elected? This is a politician who switched her party affiliation in the mid 1990’s because a few millionaires convinced her to be the poster-child of the “new” Hispanic-friendly republican party. She is a puppet for the GOP and must be stopped before she completely destroys the Land of Enchantment. Here are 4 reasons to fear her re-election:

1. She believes that anybody who has an accent is a “retard”

Secret recordings of a conversation between Governor Martinez and one of her aides referred to former Speaker Ben Lujan as “a retard” when he speaks English.

Now, she argues that she did not make the “retard” comment, but she did not say anything about it. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said:

“The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty of the bad people, but the silence over that by the good people.”

A true leader would have said something and defended those who speak with an accent and forbid the use of the word “retard” in her administration. Her grandparents were immigrants from Mexico who had an accent. She didn’t even stand up for them.

2. Her war against behavioral health providers is dangerous and corrupt

Governor Martinez’s administration hired a firm to perform a medicaid audit on 15 non-profit behavioral health providers. Based on a faulty report and statistical extrapolation, her administration permanently shut down the 15 providers and hired a company from Arizona to take over.

Now… During the July 2014 LHHS Behavioral Sub-Committee meeting, State Auditor Hector Balderas said that the actions of the Administration would be similar to taking over a University based on alleged fraud, firing everybody before they could respond, and hiring an out-of-state university to take over.

The behavioral health scenario could be an entire series of articles. But the reality is that the Arizona companies that took over are not prepared to work with the community. A rash of mentally ill homeless individuals have had encounters with the APD since the take-over happened. Governor Martinez is to blame for this because the patients are not getting adequate care.

3. Governor Martinez has declared war on the poor

Staying true to her “new” party beliefs, Governor Martinez has shown contempt for anybody below the middle-class. Her administration has recently declared that individuals on food stamps between the ages of 16-59 will be required to work at least 20 hours per week to be eligible for food stamps.

That is ridiculous. New Mexico is 48th in job growth in the country and has the highest food insecurity rate in the country. People will starve while they are looking for a job that does not exist.

4. Governor Martinez could care less if Veterans suffer

Although her Administration has made a few small steps towards recognizing some of the benefits of medical marijuana, she vowed in 2010 to repeal New Mexico’s medical marijuana law.

Medical marijuana is used to help patients deal with severe pain and trauma. The benefits are well documented and cannot be denied. The administration recently attempted to tighten the rules without public comment, but the people fought back.

If she gets re-elected, she will continue to make medical marijuana a part of her war on the less fortunate. Full legalization will not happen under her watch.

Susana Martinez Makes List of Nation’s Most Corrupt Governors

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) released its list of the Worst Governors in America today. New Mexico’s Susana Martinez, fresh off of vetoing a minimum wage increase without explaining why, makes the list.

CREW explains her inclusion:

(1) using state resources for political purposes; (2) investigations into the awarding of a state contract to a large campaign donor; (3) using private e-mail for public business; (4) improperly withholding public records; and (5) improperly interfering with the labor relations board.

Here are some highlights:

In December 2011, The Downs at Albuquerque won a 25-year state lease worth over a billion dollars. In the previous year and a half, donors connected to the Downs contributed $75,000 to Gov. Martinez’s gubernatorial campaign and another $10,000 to Susana PAC. The FBI and other state agencies appear to be investigating.

In 2012, one of Gov. Martinez’s campaign advisors and manager of Susana PAC sought a list of non-union teachers and their email addresses so that they could counter union information about the governor’s proposed education reforms. The state Attorney General’s office is investigating possible violations of state ethics laws.

Gov. Martinez denied to release documents to the Associated Press on many occasions, including records regarding expenses connected to a Louisiana alligator hunting trip (!) taken by the governor’s husband. Turns out the trip was taken in a state-owned vehicle.

In 2011, Gov. Martinez waged a highly inappropriate campaign to fire John Boyd, executive director of the state collective bargaining board, which oversees contracts between unions and state agencies. Ultimately, the New Mexico Supreme Court ruled that Boyd had to be reinstated. However, at the next available opportunity, Gov. Martinez replaced Boyd with someone she felt would be more favorable.

And so on.

New Mexico’s working families are still waiting for an explanation for why Gov. Martinez vetoed a minimum wage increase passed by both houses of the legislature, or the information about the veto was scrubbed from her official (publicly-funded) website.

“Sadly this comes as no surprise,” said Working America Regional Director Chelsey Evans, “but we’re glad the rest of the country is clued in to the damage Susana Martinez is doing for working people here in New Mexico.”

Read the full report.

Happy but Homeless

In her own words. Mother Jones releases audio of Susana’s graphic attacks on women, Hispanic business and teachers

The true Susana Martinez, in her own words. That’s the first big takeaway from today’s Mother Jones article, “Is New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez the Next Sarah Palin?”

One Republican state legislator described her tactics thusly: “Nastiness, misinformation, innuendo, and flat-out lies have created a toxic political environment.”

Just a week after Martinez released her first highly-polished campaign ad denouncing her national ambitions and promoting her warm and fuzzy side, new audio recordings from inside her 2010 campaign show the sexist, belittling and vindictive nature of the true Susana Martinez behind closed doors.

On Teachers & Hiding Her True Positions During the Campaign

Martinez told campaign staffers she would hide her opinions on teachers during the campaign, but she didn’t like teachers who “already don’t work,” referring to summer school breaks.

She then laughs with her chief campaign strategist, Jay McCleskey, about ways to avoid accusations that she hid her true anti-teacher feelings during the campaign

Supreme Court to consider this week whether it will hear Elane Photography case

On Friday, March 21, the Supreme Court will consider whether it will hear Elane Photography v. Willock, a case involving a New Mexico public accommodations law that bars discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. A photography business in the state violated the public accommodations law when it refused to photograph a same-sex couple’s commitment ceremony (before same-sex marriage was legal in the state.) The state supreme court ruled against the business when it challenged the application of that law to its business on First Amendment grounds.

Elane Photography argues that its business creates speech, and since they are opposed to same-sex marriage, photographing a same-sex commitment ceremony would force them to create speech with which they disagree. The business argues that it would have performed “other services” for gays and lesbians.

The New Mexico Supreme Court held that the business is only “compelled” to create speech favoring same-sex couples to the extent that they create speech and provide services for anyone else, as a photography business. And that court said the business badly misconstrued the issue:

Elane Photography has misunderstood this issue. It believes that because it is a photography business, it cannot be subject to public accommodation laws. The reality is that because it is a public accommodation, its provision of services can be regulated, even though those services include artistic and creative work. If Elane Photography took photographs on its own time and sold them at a gallery, or if it was hired by certain clients but did not offer its services to the general public, the law would not apply to Elane Photography’s choice of whom to photograph or not. The difference in the present case is that the photographs that are allegedly compelled by the NMHRA are photographs that Elane Photography produces for hire in the ordinary course of its business as a public accommodation. This determination has no relation to the artistic merit of photographs produced by Elane Photography. If Annie Leibovitz or Peter Lindbergh worked as public accommodations in New Mexico, they would be subject to the provisions of the [public accommodations law].

The state supreme court decision is apparently what prompted the anti-gay bill passed in Arizona, SB 1062. Governor Brewer vetoed the bill.

It takes four votes (out of nine Justices) to review a case on the merits.

Santa Fe Elects First Openly Gay Mayor

New Mexico's capital city has elected its first openly gay mayor. On Tuesday, Javier Gonzales was elected mayor of Santa Fe by a wide margin, taking in more than 43 percent of the vote.

The Santa Fe New Mexican reports:

Gonzales made history as the city’s first openly gay mayor and will preside over a City Council on which two of the eight members are openly gay women — mayoral opponent Patti Bushee and newly elected Signe Lindell.

According to The Albuquerque Journal, this was also a first for the state: 

In what almost certainly a first in New Mexico, two of the mayoral candidates were openly gay — [Patti] Bushee has been “out” since before she entered public life two decades ago and Gonzales declared he was gay last year.

Their sexual orientation wasn’t an issue, at least publicly. While Bushee and Gonzales fought over issues like commitment to Santa Fe’s local “living wage” of $10.66 and hour, and there were ethics complaints filed against each of them (both ruled unfounded by the city’s ethics board), Dimas stayed quietly out of the fray, bypassing public candidate forums and staking out more conservative positions.

Gonzales, a Democrat, will be inaugurated into his new post on Monday.

New Mexico Judges Refuse To Officiate All Weddings

Back in December, New Mexico became the 17th state to introduce marriage equality. But judges in two of those state's counties (Eddy and Chaves Counties) have decided to stop performing any and all marriages. 

The Albuquerque Journal reports on the response of one of those judges, Eddy County Magistrate Judge Henry Castaneda who said: “I don’t have a problem with who wants to get married. But we don’t have to compromise our beliefs.”

The Current-Argus reports: 

Neighboring county judges have also decided to no longer perform marriages. Jeff Ortega, chief deputy clerk for Chaves County, said judges informed the county of their decision months before the supreme court decision. In Lea County, however, two judges in Lovington did notify the county clerk that they were still going to continue to officiate weddings, said Pat Chappelle, Lea County clerk. Chappelle said the county has not received a significant spike in marriage licenses since the ruling, but the process has been a little slower because of a shortage of people who can legally sign off on marriage licenses.

 Judges are not required to officiate weddings but county clerks are required to issue licenses that must be signed by a judge, minister or tribal representative.

Minimum Wage Champs & Chumps: NM Senate passes Minimum Wage Hike 24-17

The New Mexico Senate passed SJR13, a Constitutional amendment raising and indexing New Mexico’s minimum wage.

The amendment, if it passes the House, places the question on the November 2014 ballot for voters to decide if the state should index the state’s minimum wage providing an effective raise of about $1 and tying the raise to the cost of living going forward.

In a surprise vote, Democratic Senator Clemente Sanchez joined the Democratic majority to help pass the measure 24-17.  Sen. C. Sanchez previously voted against endorsing the measure in the Senate Rules Committee.   He later voted to move the measure forward without recommendation.

Clemente Sanchez provided the key 22nd vote.  (Constitutional amendments require a majority vote of those elected to pass).

Unsurprisingly, Senator John Arthur Smith voted with Republicans against the bill.

After initially passing on the vote, Democratic Senators Mary Kay Papen and George Munoz also voted for the bill providing the 23rd and 24th votes.

The measure now moves to the House where 36 votes are required.  Legislative watchers believe there are currently 34 votes to pass with two members, Rep. E. Chavez and Rep. P. Archuleta, absent for illness. Democratic Rep. Sandra Jeff is expected to vote with Republicans against the measure.

Friend: Roswell school shooting suspect was bullied

A friend of the seventh grader suspected in the Roswell school shooting spoke to KOB Eyewitness News 4.

He said Mason Campbell, the alleged shooter, was bullied. 

Michael Brumlow is an eighth grader at Berrendo Middle School.

"I know he was bullied," he said.

Brumlow said it happened in the hallway at Berrendo Middle School.

"Some kid just walked up and called him a name that was really rude. And I'm not sure I can say it on camera," he said.

Brumlow said Campbell stayed quiet.

"Yeah, everyone really knows that he was bullied. But he really stayed quiet about it," he said. "You feel kind of defenseless when you're being bullied."

He would know because he said in sixth grade, he was bullied at Berrendo Middle School.

“They just talked a lot of crap and one time some kid pushed me, and I almost got into a really big fight," Brumlow said.

But when he told the school about the bullying problem, Brumlow said they never did anything.

"I just walked away and I went home. And I told a teacher and then they didn't do anything about it. So I told my mom, and she told the principal and they didn't do anything about it," he said.

The bullying got so bad, Brumlow's mom pulled him out of Berrendo Middle School when he was in sixth grade. He returned to the school for eighth grade.

"I just went back because I felt like they'd had changed it, but I guess not," Brumlow said.

The boy said he is still trying to process what happened.

"It just feels like a dream like it hasn't really sunk in yet," Brumlow said.

He said seeing what happened to his friend, Mason, makes him want to do something about bullying.

NM County Clerk Who Spearheaded Marriage Equality Charge Donates Leftover Funds to Protect It

In late August, New Mexico's Doña Ana County made history when it began issuing marriage licenses to gay couples. County Clerk Lynn Ellins was leading the charge, which engaged other counties until the the New Mexico Supreme Court finally decided the matter. 

In September, Ellins began raising private donations to help the county cover the cost of its legal fees and the fundraising effort was so successful that there was more cash to spare.

Ellins is now donating that money to a New Mexico group established to protect equal marriage rights, the Las Cruces Sun reports:

Ellins had raised private donations -- via a website and at his county office -- to pay for his defense in a civil lawsuit brought by opponents of his controversial August decision to issue marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples.

After paying his legal bill, Ellins estimated a few thousand dollars are leftover. And he said he's giving that money to a campaign called New Mexico Unites for Marriage Equality.

"It's a nonprofit organization that was established the last year to basically protect the same-gender marriage rights," Ellins said.

Ellins' legal expenses tied to the state district court lawsuit totaled nearly $31,759, according to a Doña Ana County news release.

NM Gov. Susana Martinez Won't Legislate Against Gay Marriage: 'It's the Law of the Land'

New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez says she won't support or seek an amendment to ban gay marriage in the state, saying the issue is settled, the Santa Fe New Mexican reports:

Martinez said several times last summer — when several county clerks across the state began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples — that she believed state voters should decide the issue by way of a ballot question on whether to amend the state constitution.

“I think what I said before was that yes, the people should have decided on it, but the Supreme Court has decided,” the governor said Monday when asked by a reporter about the issue. “And it’s now the law of the land.”

Asked whether that meant she wouldn’t push for the Legislature to pass a measure like Sen. Bill Sharer’s Senate Joint Resolution 6, Martinez responded, “It’s the law of the land. The Supreme Court has spoken.”

In-depth look at how New Mexico won gay marriage

New Mexico is now the 17th state (plus D.C.) to legalize gay marriage, thanks to a ruling by the New Mexico Supreme Court.

Now it’s time to look at the ruling itself and figure out the arguments and implications. In this loooong post, I’ll go through the ruling paragraph by paragraph and pull out all the interesting bits.

The required: “I’m no attorney but…” Hey, the language is actually rather straightforward and not difficult to figure out.

Like the case in New Jersey not that long ago, the New Mexico courts were brought in to deal with an untenable situation.

In New Jersey, it was the inherent inequality of civil unions for gay couples, rather than real marriage. This situation was further complicated after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Section 3 of DOMA this past June, which had prohibited the Federal government from recognizing legally enacted same sex marriages.

Since then, the Feds have made it clear that civil unions and domestic partnerships don’t rise to the level of ‘marriage’ for federal law. Hence civil unions had to be replaced with actual civil marriage.

New Mexico’s situation was different: The state Constitution has specific measures to say that discrimination on the basis of gender is illegal — and this rationale has been used several times to extend non-discrimination rights to LGBT New Mexicans.

Moreover, New Mexico’s general marriage law, as written, makes no reference to gender, a situation that was used by one county clerk in 2004 to attempt to extend marriage rights, but was turned back.

At the time, the 2004 lower court ruling and temporary injunction directed the NM state legislature to deal with the conflict — and they never did. Conservative groups, especially the Catholic Church, lobbied heavily every time the issue came up for consideration, and always successfully derailed any move towards marriage equality, even for something as unequal as a domestic partnership registry.

On top of this, back in August of this year, a Doña Ana county clerk began issuing marriage licenses, which later resulted in several counties joining voluntarily, others being ordered by lower courts to join in, and a whole bunch of county clerks — both pro- and anti-marriage equality — desperate to know what the law should actually be.

Although it was only a handful of counties, nearly 70% of New Mexico residents lived in a ‘marriage equality county’ — but lacked still lacked state recognition. We were in legal limbo.

Today’s unanimous NM Supreme Court ruling was unequivocal: LGBTs deserve equal protection under the law.

I’ve been reading through the ruling, and so much of it just jumps out at me as incredibly powerful language. This is a ruling that slams the homophobes and bigots again and again, and demolishes every one of their legal arguments. I’ll try to step through some of it here, based on the full text of the ruling. An easy-to-read version is also available on Casetext here.

It’s a very long post, so I’ve tried to break it up, yet remain somewhat chronological in the ruling text itself.

Read more

New Mexico County Clerk resigns after being ordered to issue same-sex marriage licenses

Two officials responsible for issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples resigned their position this morning, the day after New Mexico’s Supreme Court ordered all 33 county clerks to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

“We respect that these women made a tough decision,” says Pat Davis of ProgressNowNM, the state’s largest progressive advocacy organization supporting the campaign for marriage.  “In the end, their decision to resign is honorable if they feel that they are unable to execute their duties under the law.  All of our county clerks deserve credit for coming together to ask for a definitive decision on this issue of equality and we look forward to every clerk in the state offering licenses to every loving couple in their county.”

Roosevelt County (Portales) County Manager, Charlene Webb, has confirmed that Roosevelt County Clerk Donna Carpenter and her chief deputy, Janet Collins, tendered their resignations this morning.  Sources confirmed that Carpenter objected to issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.  She was not one of eight clerks who issued licenses to couples earlier this year.

After months of organizing and legal dispute, New Mexico's Supreme Court issued an order yesterday requiring all county clerks to create a uniform marriage license for all couples and to begin issuing those licenses.

The county commission will appoint a new clerk.

New Mexico becomes 17th gay marriage state

It’s a happy day here in the State of Enchantment — New Mexico — unless one is a homophobe or religious fundamentalist. In a long-anticipated New Mexico State Supreme Court ruling, the state’s highest court decided unanimously that gay and lesbian couples have a right to civil marriage.

The ruling reportedly goes into effect immediately — making the marriages of gay couples legal statewide.

From the ruling itself:

Prohibiting same-gender marriages is not substantially related to the governmental interests advanced by the parties opposing same-gender marriage or to the purposes we have identified. Therefore, barring individuals from marrying and depriving them of the rights, protections, and responsibilities of civil marriage solely because of their sexual orientation violates the Equal Protection Clause under Article II, Section 18 of the New Mexico Constitution. We hold that the State of New Mexico is constitutionally required to allow same-gender couples to marry and must extend to them the rights, protections, and responsibilities that derive from civil marriage under New Mexico law.

Some of you may remember how this all began some months ago, back in late August, when Doña Ana County clerk Lynn Ellins decided New Mexicans had waited long enough and began issuing licenses in defiance of currently accepted state practice.

This led to a flurry of cases where several other counties were ordered by the courts to issue same sex marriage licenses, resulting in nearly 60% of New Mexico’s population enjoying (possibly temporary) gay marriage rights.

Then, in response to an urgent plea on the part of all of New Mexico’s county clerks, in October the NM Supreme Court consented to hear a case asking for clarification: Does the state recognize same sex marriages or doesn’t it?

Yesterday, December 19th 2013, we have our answer: Yes, it does. And the Justices further ruled that this is to take effect immediately in all 33 New Mexico Counties. Full text of the ruling is HERE.

And New Mexico becomes the 17th state in the United States to have full same sex marriage equality rights.

Marriage Equality Good for New Mexico Kids, Experts Say

The Albuquerque Gay Pride Parade in New Mexico,
which may become the next marriage equality state.

Activists hoping for marriage equality in New Mexico got a boost Tuesday as three prominent statewide organizations came forward and endorsed their cause.

The New Mexico Pediatric Society, the New Mexico Psychological Association, and the New Mexico chapter of the National Association of Social Workers said they believe marriage equality would improve the lives of children and families in the southwestern state.

“Granting marriage equality is the right thing to do for New Mexico’s children and will strengthen and protect families who have lacked legal recognition for too long,” said Alexandra Cvijanovich, president of the New Mexico Pediatric Society. “As pediatricians, we see how supportive parents — whether gay or straight — positively impact the development of their children. And there is no question that when their parents can marry, children are more protected legally and socially.”

Legalizing same-sex marriage in New Mexico would yield $15.6 million in new spending and benefit nearly 2,000 children being raised by same-sex parents, according to new information from the Williams Institute.

Current law in New Mexico does not explicitly prohibit or allow marriage for same-sex couples, but there are laws on the books preventing discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. New Mexico does have adoption equality and permits joint and second-parent adoptions for same-sex couples. It also recognizes same-sex marriages performed in other states.

The effort to legalize same-sex marriage has now shifted to New Mexico after recent victories in Illinois and Hawaii. In late October, New Mexico’s Supreme Court  heard arguments about whether to legalize such marriages. Several counties in the state have already begun issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Advocates for marriage equality are hoping the new endorsements bolster their cause with the court and legislature.

“This is a very powerful group of endorsements,” said former lieutenant governor Diane Denish. “We know that marriage strengthens and supports families at all levels, and we’re hopeful that our state’s highest court will confirm that loving same-sex couples can no longer be denied access to marriage.”

According to the Williams Institute, New Mexico has the highest proportion of Latino/a same-sex couples among households. The state also has an estimated 1,030 same-sex couples raising nearly 2,000 children, meaning a ruling for marriage equality would affect not just couples but entire families.

“The future of our society is entirely dependent on the quality of protective environments families offer our children today,” said Patrick Tyrrell of the New Mexico chapter of the National Association of Social Workers. “Marriage equality helps ensure all New Mexican children receive this essential support and care.”