Politics
Judge brings marriage equality to New Mexico’s largest county
Three counties in Land of Enchantment now have gay nuptials
A judge in New Mexico had issued a writ of mandamus bringing marriage equality to the state’s largest county.
A state district judge in New Mexico issued a ruling on Monday instituting marriage equality in the Land of Enchantment’s largest county, bringing the totaling number of counties with same-sex marriage in New Mexico to three.
Along with a 25-page decision, Judge Alan Malott issued a writ of mandamus requiring clerks in Bernalillo and Santa Fe counties to distribute marriage licenses to gay couples.
“Immediately upon receipt of the Writ, Defendants Oliver and Salazar, as the County Clerks of Bernalillo and Santa Fe County, New Mexico, respectively, shall comply with and shall perform their non-discretionary statutory duty to issue a Marriage License upon application from ‘each couple’ otherwise qualified without regard to the couple’s sexual orientation or the gender of its members,” Malott writes in the order.
In a statement on her website, Bernalillo County Clerk Maggie Toulouse Oliver announced her office will comply with an order and was set to begin issuing marriage licenses to gay couples starting Tuesday at 8 a.m.
“I’m very happy and proud to finally be issuing marriage licenses to same sex couples in Bernalillo County,” Toulouse Oliver said. “Furthermore, I am beyond relieved to have some judicial guidance in this matter that immediately resolves the conflict that existed between state law and our state constitution. Marriage is a fundamental civil right that should be acknowledged and respected at all levels of government. Judge Malott’s ruling today has made it clear that the fundamental assumption of that civil right outweighs other technicalities and concerns.”
The decision means Bernalillo County will join Santa Fe, where County Clerk Geraldine Salazar had already begun issuing marriage licenses to gay couples on her accord, as well as Dona Ana County, where the clerk had done the same, in having marriage equality.
Notably, the judge comes to the same conclusion as a resolution passed by Santa Fe City Council that proposed by Mayor David Coss: marriage equality is available under current law in New Mexico because of the gender-neutral construction of the law.
Mallot writes in his order that the state law governing marriage doesn’t “define or limit the definition of ‘couple’ to a heterosexual pair of contractually capable people nor those of same-sex orientation from that term.”
Although he acknowledges others may construe the law to prohibit same-sex marriage, Mallot writes that equal prohibition under the state constitution makes such a prohibition unconstitutional.
Additionally, the judge cites the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision against the Defense of Marriage Act as legal precedent among other cases in his reasoning to bring same-sex marriage to Bernalillo County.
“Gay and lesbian citizens of New Mexico have endured a long history of discrimination,” the order states. “Denial of the right to marry continues this unfortunate, intolerable pattern and establishes irreparable injury on Plaintiff’s part.”
The lawsuit was brought to the judge by the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, the ACLU of New Mexico and local attorneys on behalf of six gay couples.
Kate Kendell, executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, called the decision a “powerful reminder” of the national momentum in favor of marriage equality.
“We are joyful for our client couples and for every same-sex couple in New Mexico,” Kendell said. “The freedom to marry is about love, commitment, family and security. These are universal values and they are center stage today.”
Among the plaintiffs in the lawsuit are Jen Roper and Angelique Neuman, who have been together for over 21 years. Late last year, Roper was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor and was told she had 18 months to live. Unwilling to wait for marriage equality to come to New Mexico at a later date, the couple filed an emergency appeal.
After the Santa Fe County clerk began issuing marriage licenses on her own accord, the couple obtained a marriage license on Friday and married at a cancer center during a break from a chemotherapy infusion.
Attorney General Gary King has already issued an opinion affirming that New Mexico law does prohibit same-sex marriage, but also that this prohibition is unconstitutional and he wouldn’t defend the law in court. King has said he wouldn’t stop counties from distributing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
Republican state lawmakers, notably State Sen. William Sharer, have said they’ll file their own lawsuit to appeal the decisions and prevent same-sex marriages from occurring.
“Homosexual couples, by their very existence, self-identify as not having the procreative value that is one of the vital components of marriage,” Sharer writes on his website.
Congress
Congress passes ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ with massive cuts to health insurance coverage
Roughly 1.8 million LGBTQ Americans rely on Medicaid
The “Big, Beautiful Bill” heads to President Donald Trump’s desk following the vote by the Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives Thursday, which saw two nays from GOP members and unified opposition from the entire Democratic caucus.
To partially offset the cost of tax breaks that disproportionately favor the wealthy, the bill contains massive cuts to Medicaid and social safety net programs like food assistance for the poor while adding a projected $3.3 billion to the deficit.
Policy wise, the signature legislation of Trump’s second term rolls back clean energy tax credits passed under the Biden-Harris administration while beefing up funding for defense and border security.
Roughly 13 percent of LGBTQ adults in the U.S., about 1.8 million people, rely on Medicaid as their primary health insurer, compared to seven percent of non-LGBTQ adults, according to the UCLA School of Law’s Williams Institute think tank on sexual orientation and gender identities.
In total, the Congressional Budget Office estimates the cuts will cause more than 10 million Americans to lose their coverage under Medicaid and anywhere from three to five million to lose their care under Affordable Care Act marketplace plans.
A number of Republicans in the House and Senate opposed the bill reasoning that they might face political consequences for taking away access to healthcare for, particularly, low-income Americans who rely on Medicaid. Poorer voters flocked to Trump in last year’s presidential election, exit polls show.
A provision that would have blocked the use of federal funds to reimburse medical care for transgender youth was blocked by the Senate Parliamentarian and ultimately struck from the legislation — reportedly after the first trans member of Congress, U.S. Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Del.) and the first lesbian U.S. senator, Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), shored up unified opposition to the proposal among Congressional Democrats.
Congress
Ritchie Torres says he is unlikely to run for NY governor
One poll showed gay Democratic congressman nearly tied with Kathy Hochul
Gay Democratic Congressman Ritchie Torres of New York is unlikely to challenge New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) in the state’s next gubernatorial race, he said during an appearance Wednesday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
“I’m unlikely to run for governor,” he said. ““I feel like the assault that we’ve seen on the social safety net in the Bronx is so unprecedented. It’s so overwhelming that I’m going to keep my focus on Washington, D.C.”
Torres and Hochul were nearly tied in a poll this spring of likely Democratic voters in New York City, fueling speculation that the congressman might run. A Siena College poll, however, found Hochul leading with a wider margin.
Back in D.C., the congressman and his colleagues are unified in their opposition to President Donald Trump’s signature legislation, the “Big Beautiful Bill,” which heads back to the House after passing the Senate by one vote this week.
To pay for tax cuts that disproportionately advantage the ultra-wealthy and large corporations, the president and Congressional Republicans have proposed massive cuts to Medicaid and other social programs.
A provision in the Senate version of the bill that would have blocked the use of federal funds to reimburse medical care for transgender youth was blocked by the Senate Parliamentarian and ultimately struck from the legislation, reportedly after pressure from transgender U.S. Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Del.) and lesbian U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.).
Torres on “Morning Joe” said, “The so-called Big Beautiful Bill represents a betrayal of the working people of America and nowhere more so than in the Bronx,” adding, “It’s going to destabilize every health care provider, every hospital.”
Congress
House Democrats oppose Bessent’s removal of SOGI from discrimination complaint forms
Congressional Equality Caucus sharply criticized move
A letter issued last week by a group of House Democrats objects to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s removal of sexual orientation and gender identity as bases for sex discrimination complaints in several Equal Employment Opportunity forms.
Bessent, who is gay, is the highest ranking openly LGBTQ official in American history and the second out Cabinet member next to Pete Buttigieg, who served as transportation secretary during the Biden-Harris administration.
The signatories to the letter include a few out members of Congress, Congressional Equality Caucus chair and co-chairs Mark Takano (Calif.), Ritchie Torres (N.Y.), and Becca Balint (Vt.), along with U.S. Reps. Nikema Williams (Ga.), Hank Johnson (Ga.), Raja Krishnamoorthi (Ill.), Delia Ramirez (Ill.), Joyce Beatty (Ohio), Lloyd Doggett (Texas), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D.C.), Josh Gottheimer (N.J.), and Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas).
The letter explains the “critical role” played by the EEO given the strictures and limits on how federal employees can find recourse for unlawful workplace discrimination — namely, without the ability to file complaints directly with the Employment Opportunity Commission or otherwise engage with the agency unless the complainant “appeal[s] an agency’s decision following the agency’s investigation or request[s] a hearing before an administrative judge.”
“Your attempt to remove ‘gender identity’ and ‘sexual orientation’ as bases for sex discrimination complaints in numerous Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) forms will create unnecessary hurdles to employees filing EEO complaints and undermine enforcement of federal employee’s nondiscrimination protections,” the members wrote in their letter.
They further explain the legal basis behind LGBTQ inclusive nondiscrimination protections for federal employees in the EEOC’s decisions in Macy v. Holder (2012) and Baldwin v. Foxx (2015) and the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock v. Clayton County (2020).
“It appears that these changes may be an attempt by the department to dissuade employees from reporting gender identity and sexual orientation discrimination,” the lawmakers wrote. “Without forms clearly enumerating gender identity and sexual orientation as forms of sex discrimination, the average employee who experiences these forms of discrimination may see these forms and not realize that the discrimination they experienced was unlawful and something that they can report and seek recourse for.”
“A more alarming view would be that the department no longer plans to fulfill its legal obligations to investigate complaints of gender identity and sexual orientation and ensure its
employees are working in an environment free from these forms of discrimination,” they added.
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