The ObamaNation lawlessness spreads further . . .
Lynn Ellis, Clerk of Doña Ana County, has begun to issue same-sex "marriage" licenses based on his independent reading of the U.S. and New Mexico constitutions. Not surprisingly, New Mexico Attorney General Gary King (Democrat candidate for governor) announced that he will NOT challenge any county wanting to follow suit.
Odd . . . the U.S. Supreme Court has NOT found any right to "gay marriage" in the Constitution, per their decisions several weeks ago.
For background, read President Obama's 'Marriage' Lawlessness Spreads Across America
UPDATE 12/24/13: Activist Judges Say Scalia Right on 'Gay Marriage'
UPDATE 12/19/13: New Mexico Supreme Court Legalizes 'Gay Marriage' (read excerpts from article below)
-- From "NM county issues same-sex marriage licenses" by The Associated Press (Barry Massey in Santa Fe and Juan Carlos Llorca in Las Cruces) 8/21/13
Gay couples rushed to a courthouse in Las Cruces on Wednesday after the county clerk decided to issue same-sex marriage licenses in a surprise move that came as several legal challenges on the practice make their way through the courts.
Jeff Williams, a public information officer in the county's government and a reverend with Universal Life Church, said he was marrying same-sex couples all day long while wearing his rainbow-colored tie.
[Attorney General] King said Wednesday that "we feel like our position that the [current marriage] law is unconstitutional presents a barrier to us from bringing any action."
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "County Clerk in New Mexico Issues Marriage Licenses to Same-Sex Couples" by Heath Haussamen And Fernanda Santos, New York Times 8/21/13
Proponents [of "gay marriage"] are banking on the outcome of the court cases, pending before separate district courts, and on a statement by Gary King, the state’s attorney general, in June saying the statutory framework that precludes same-sex marriage would be “vulnerable to challenge.”
. . . Despite her long-professed opposition to same-sex marriage, [Republican] Governor Martinez has softened her stance, saying voters should be the ones to decide whether to legalize it in New Mexico — “not a court, not politicians in Santa Fe, and not one random county clerk,” as her spokesman, Enrique Knell, put it in a statement on Wednesday.
Polls have indicated that the electorate is divided, though, with much of the resistance grounded in the strong Roman Catholic vein that runs through the state.
At the Doña Ana County clerk’s office on Wednesday, staff members were issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples at a rate of four an hour, a record for an office that generally grants five marriage licenses a day. . . .
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
UPDATE 12/19/13: "Gay marriage ruled legal by New Mexico's high court" by The Associated Press
Justice Edward L. Chavez said in a ruling that none of New Mexico's marriage statutes specifically prohibits same-gender marriages, but the state's laws as a whole have prevented gay and lesbian couples from marrying. The justices said same-sex couples are a discrete group that has been subjected to a history of discrimination and violence.
"Accordingly, New Mexico may neither constitutionally deny same-gender couples the right to marry nor deprive them of the rights, protections and responsibilities of marriage laws, unless the proponents of the legislation — the opponents of same-gender marriage — prove that the discrimination caused by the legislation is 'substantially related to an important government interest,'" Chavez wrote.
Eight of the state's 33 counties started issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in August when a county clerk in southern New Mexico independently decided to allow the unions.
The Democratic-controlled Legislature repeatedly has turned down proposals for domestic partnerships for same-sex couples and a constitutional amendment that would have allowed voters to decide whether to legalize gay marriage. Measures to ban same-sex marriage also have failed.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
Also read Gay Agenda will be Complete when Christians are Muzzled, Say Homosexualists as well as Senator Ted Cruz Says the Gay Agenda Ends Christian Liberty
In addition, read Nationwide Marriage Amendment Puts Republicans to the Test
