Politics
New Mexico AG won’t defend state marriage law
King latest to determine prohibition on same-sex marriage unconstitutional


New Mexico Attorney General Gary King won’t defend state law against a lawsuit marriage equality (Photo public domain)
The attorney general of New Mexico has become the latest chief legal authority in a state to declare he won’t defend its marriage law in court.
In a 29-page filing on Tuesday, Attorney General Gary King said New Mexico’s marriage law is unconstitutional because the state constitution’s guarantee of equal protection to citizens demands same-sex couples “be permitted to enjoy the benefits of marriage.”
“There is no doubt that Article II [Section] 18 of the New Mexico Constitution requires the state to treat equally any of its citizens seeking legal recognition of their marriage, and that any statutory scheme interfering with that guarantee is flatly unconstitutional,” King said.
King issued the opinion in the case of Hanna v. Salazar, a state lawsuit that the National Center for Lesbian Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico filed on behalf of Alexander Hanna and Yon Hudson, a Santa Fe couple seeking marriage rights.
Taking a line from the Obama administration’s views on the Defense of Marriage Act, King argues that same-sex couples should be permitted to marry in New Mexico because the marriage law should be subject to heightened scrutiny, or a greater assumption it’s unconstitutional. The opinion maintains gay people are a suspect class based on their history of discrimination and their political powerlessness.
King, who’s expected to run for governor, is the latest in a series of state attorneys general who have elected not to defend a state’s marriage law on the basis that it prohibits same-sex couples from marrying. Others are California Attorney General Kamala Harris and Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan. Most recently, Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane said she won’t defend her state’s marriage law against a lawsuit filed by American Civil Liberties Union.
Chris Stoll, a staff attorney for the National Center for Lesbian Rights, praised King for joining other attorneys general in deciding not to defend a law prohibiting same-sex couples from marrying.
“It’s great to see Attorney General King join many state officials around the country who have decided that excluding same-sex couples from marriage is indefensible under the constitution,” Stoll said. “These laws serve only to harm same-sex couples and demean their families and children while helping no one.”
The office of New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, a Republican who opposes same-sex marriage, didn’t respond to multiple requests from the Washington Blade to comment on King’s position.
But King’s opinion goes further than just determining that the state’s marriage law is unconstitutional. The filing also rejects an argument that same-sex marriage is already legal in New Mexico because the marriage law is gender neutral and doesn’t explicitly ban same-sex marriage.
King says the marriage law currently doesn’t allow same-sex marriage because the New Mexico’s statutory scheme uses both gender-specific and non-gender specific terms and because other states that had similar statutes determined gay couples can’t marry.
“State courts in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Minnesota have considered analogous statutory schemes and concluded a mix of gender-specific and gender-neutral terminology does not convey the right for same sex couples to marry,” King writes.
The position that same-sex marriage is already legal in New Mexico under current law was a view put forward by Santa Fe officials, including the city’s mayor, David Coss, as part of a resolution approved in March.
Further, the attorney general rejects an argument that the New Mexico Supreme Court should issue a writ of mandamus so that plaintiffs in the case can receive a marriage license before the lawsuit ends. The couple had a filed a petition for mandamus as part of the relief.
“Issuing a writ of mandamus would to Respondent would thus represent an expansion of the jurisdiction conferred by Article VI [Section 3] and presents the very real threat of overloading the court’s docket with mandamus actions concerning any dispute a party has with any local and county official: county tax assessment protests, local zoning disputes, and any other dispute concerning only county or local officials would all be fair game,” King writes.
The opinion comes on the heels of a request from NCLR and ACLU for the New Mexico Supreme Court to issue a different writ of mandamus and take up the case so that it doesn’t have to proceed through lower courts. Stoll said that petition before the court is still pending.
“It asks the court to hold that the New Mexico Constitution requires the state to permit same-sex couples to marry, and also to respect the marriages of those married in other states,” Stoll said. “That petition remains pending alongside the one the attorney responded to yesterday.”
Congress
House passes reconciliation with gender-affirming care funding ban
‘Big Beautiful Bill’ now heads to the Senate

The Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday voted 215-214 for passage of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” reconciliation package, which includes provisions that would prohibit the use of federal funds to support gender-affirming care.
But for an 11th hour revision of the bill late Wednesday night by conservative lawmakers, Medicaid and CHIP would have been restricted only from covering treatments and interventions administered to patients younger than 18.
The legislation would also drop requirements that some health insurers must cover gender-affirming care as an “essential health benefit” and force states that currently mandate such coverage to find it independently. Plans could still offer coverage for transgender care but without the EHB classification patients will likely pay higher out of pocket costs.
To offset the cost of extending tax cuts from 2017 that disproportionately benefited the wealthiest Americans, the reconciliation bill contains significant cuts to spending for federal programs like Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
The Human Rights Campaign criticized House Republicans in a press release and statement by the group’s president, Kelley Robinson:
“People in this country want policies and solutions that make life better and expand access to the American Dream. Instead, anti-equality lawmakers voted to give handouts to billionaires built on the backs of hardworking people — with devastating consequences for the LGBTQ+ community.
“If the cuts to programs like Medicaid and SNAP or resources like Planned Parenthood clinics weren’t devastating enough, House Republicans added a last minute provision that expands its attacks on access to best practice health care to transgender adults.
“This cruel addition shows their priorities have never been about lowering costs or expanding health care access–but in targeting people simply for who they are. These lawmakers have abandoned their constituents, and as they head back to their districts, know this: they will hear from us.”
Senate Republicans are expected to pass the bill with the budget reconciliation process, which would allow them to bypass the filibuster and clear the spending package with a simple majority vote.
Changes are expected as the bill will be reviewed and amended by committees, particularly the Finance Committee, and then brought to the floor for debate — though modifications are expected to focus on Medicaid reductions and debate over state and local tax deductions.
Congress
Gerry Connolly dies at 75 after battle with esophageal cancer
Va. congressman fought for LGBTQ rights

Democratic U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia died on Wednesday, according to a statement from his family.
The 75-year-old lawmaker, who served in Congress since 2009, announced last month that he will not seek reelection and would step down from his role as the top Democrat on the powerful U.S. House Oversight Committee because his esophageal cancer had returned.
“We were fortunate to share Gerry with Northern Virginia for nearly 40 years because that was his joy, his purpose, and his passion,” his family said in their statement. “His absence will leave a hole in our hearts, but we are proud that his life’s work will endure for future generations.”
“He looked out for the disadvantaged and voiceless. He always stood up for what is right and just,” they said.
Connolly was memorialized in statements from colleagues and friends including House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.), Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson (La.), former President Joe Biden, and U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.).
Several highlighted Connolly’s fierce advocacy on behalf of federal workers, who are well represented in his northern Virginia congressional district.
The congressman also supported LGBTQ rights throughout his life and career.
When running for the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in 1994, he fought the removal of Washington Blade newspapers from libraries. When running in 2008 for the U.S. house seat vacated by Tom Davis, a Republican, Connolly campaigned against the amendment to Virginia’s constitution banning same-sex marriage and civil unions in the state.
In Congress, he supported the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on marriage equality, the Biden-Harris administration’s rescission of the anti-trans military ban, and the designation within the State Department of a special LGBTQ rights envoy. The congressman also was an original cosponsor of the Equality Act and co-sponsored legislation to repeal parts of the Defense of Marriage Act.
Congress
Marjorie Taylor Greene’s bill to criminalize gender affirming care advances
Judiciary Committee markup slated for Wednesday morning

U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.)’s “Protect Children’s Innocence Act,” which would criminalize guideline-directed gender affirming health care for minors, will advance to markup in the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday morning.
Doctors and providers who administer medical treatments for gender dysphoria to patients younger than 18, including hormones and puberty blockers, would be subject to Class 3 felony charges punishable by up to 10 years in prison if the legislation is enacted.
LGBTQ advocates warn conservative lawmakers want to go after families who travel out of state to obtain medical care for their transgender kids that is banned or restricted in the places where they reside, using legislation like Greene’s to expand federal jurisdiction over these decisions. They also point to the medically inaccurate way in which the bill characterizes evidence-based interventions delineated in standards of care for trans and gender diverse youth as “mutilation” or “chemical castration.”
Days into his second term, President Donald Trump signed “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation,” an executive order declaring that the U.S. would not “fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called ‘transition’ of a child from one sex to another, and it will rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit” medical treatments and interventions intended for this purpose.
Greene, who has introduced the bill in years past, noted the president’s endorsement of her bill during his address to the joint session of Congress in March when he said “I want Congress to pass a bill permanently banning and criminalizing sex changes on children and forever ending the lie that any child is trapped in the wrong body.”