Santa Fe: City Council approves resolution in support of marriage equality

The Sante Fe city council last night passed a resolution by a vote of 5-3 supporting same-sex marriage:

There was a standing room-only crowd for the vote. The Santa Fe Fire Department had to bar the doors before the meeting started, leaving many to watch the proceedings from the hallway.

Many in attendance wore red to symbolize their support for marriage equality. Others sported yellow stickers, representing the Equality New Mexico organization, or pink felt hearts that said “All Families Matter.” A smaller group held pictures of the Virgin of Guadalupe or wore stickers that said “Life and Family are Sacred.”

No public testimony was permitted before the vote. The resolution, which passed by a 5-3 vote (including two abstentions), doesn’t have any effect on state rules and practices.

Sante Fe Mayor David Coss recently declared that there in nothing in state law that bars LGBT residents from marrying. City Attorney Geno Zamora argued in a memo this spring that the definition of marriage in New Mexico’s statutes is gender-neutral. “Since New Mexico does not define marriage as between a man and a woman, and since New Mexico does not prohibit same-sex marriage, same-sex marriage is permitted in New Mexico,” he wrote.

In a 2011 opinion, state Attorney General Gary King said that New Mexico must consider valid all same-sex marriage licenses granted in other states, just the way it honors other marriage licenses.

You do see where this is going, don't you?

Happy dance time, kids...