New Mexico is the only US state with no laws regarding same-sex marriage, it does not ban them, nor does it make them legal. The lack of clarity surrounding same-sex marriage means that it's up to individual county clerks to decide whether to grant marriage licences to same-sex couples. Although some country courts have demanded that their clerks issue the licenses. At the time of writing six counties in New Mexico issue same-sex marriage licenses, representing just over half of New Mexico's population. So far Bernalillo, Santa Fe and Taos issue them under court order whilst Doña Ana, San Miguel and Valencia are issuing them at the discretion of their county clerks.
Naturally everyone in New Mexico wants some clarity on the law, and soon. This is unlikely to come from the legislative branch as although Democrats control both houses of the state legislature, the governor, Susana Martinez is a Republican and opposed to same-sex marriage. This means that all eyes are on the state Supreme Court to decide this issue. Yesterday New Mexico's 33 county clerks voted unanimously to seek the guidance of the state Supreme Court. A ruling could be several weeks away. The decision whether to make New Mexico the 14th state to legalise same-sex marriage now rests with the five justices on New Mexico's Supreme Court.
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