Santa Fe, Albuquerque Lesbians File Suit Seeking to Marry

A Santa Fe lesbian couple filed a lawsuit today seeking the right to marry after being denied a marriage license by the Bernalillo County Clerk.

Rose Griego and Kim Kiel filed the suit in district court in Albuquerque along with Albuquerque-based couple Miriam Rand and Ona Porter.

The couples are being represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of New Mexico, the National Center for Lesbian Rights and Albuquerque law firm Sutin, Thayer & Browne, APC, according to a news release issued by the NCLR.

The lawsuit argues that New Mexico marriage statutes and the New Mexico Constitution don’t bar same-sex couples from marrying, according to the NCLR.

The move follows a legal opinion issued Tuesday by the Santa Fe City Attorney”s Office that says gay marriage is already legal in New Mexico. Santa Fe Mayor David Coss and City Councilor Patti Bushee also announced Tuesday that they’re sponsoring a resolution urging county clerks to start issuing same-sex marriage licenses.

“The time has come for New Mexico to treat same-sex couples with the same dignity and respect we afford opposite-sex couples. This means allowing loving, committed same-sex couples the freedom to marry,” ACLU of New Mexico Legal Director Laura Schauer Ives said in the NLR release.

“We believe that the New Mexico Constitution guarantees same-sex couples this freedom. Today we ask the courts to clarify and confirm that same-sex couples may seek happiness and protect their families within the institution of civil marriage in New Mexico,” she said.

The legal opinion by Santa Fe City Attorney Geno Zamora argues that New Mexico doesn’t define marriage as between a man and a woman and doesn’t specifically prohibit same-sex marriage. The opinion also says that New Mexico already recognizes same-sex marriages from other states and the state Constitution requires equal treatment on the basis of sex.

Several New Mexico county clerks, including the Santa Fe and Bernalillo clerks, have said they don’t believe they can issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples under the current law. Yesterday the Dona Ana County Clerk, via a local representative,  asked the New Mexico Attorney General to weigh in on the issue.

According to the NLR, Griego, 47, owns an accounting business and Kiel, 44, is a financial advisor. The two have been together eight years and are parenting Kiel’s two college-age children.

Rand and Porter, both in their sixties, have been together 25 years and have several children. The NLR site says they’re currently caring for a daughter with multiple sclerosis and a granddaughter with cerebral palsy.

Here’s Griego and Kiel in 2010 at the Roundhouse, at a hearing on an ultimately failed bill that would have created domestic partnerships in New Mexico.