NM Attorney General Wont Challenge Same-Sex Marriage Licenses

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- New Mexico Attorney General Gary King says he will not challenge a move by the Dona Ana County clerk to issue same-sex marriage licenses.

King told reporters Wednesday that he didn't believe state laws prohibiting same-sex marriage were constitutional.

He also said he would not challenge any other county clerk who issued licenses.

Still, King warned that those marriages could be invalid if the state Supreme Court rules that same-sex marriage is not allowed in New Mexico.

The Dona Ana County clerk began issuing same-sex marriage licenses Wednesday after he said his review of state law allowed him to do so.

Couples immediately began arriving at a Las Cruces courthouse to receive licenses amid pending court challenges elsewhere in the state.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

A New Mexico county clerk began issuing same-sex marriage licenses on Wednesday in a surprise move that came as several challenges make their way through the courts to determine if gay marriage is legal in the state.

Couples began arriving at the clerk's office in the border town of Las Cruces soon after learning of the announcement by Dona Ana County Clerk Lynn Ellins.

"I was in a coffee shop grading dissertations when my partner sent me an email saying, `you want to get married?'" said Char Ullman, 51. "I went home to brush my teeth and headed to the courthouse."

County and city officials around the country have taken it upon themselves in recent years to issue same-sex licenses, with one of the first and most highly publicized cases in San Francisco in 2004.

The city issued the licenses for about a month before being ordered by courts to stop. The marriages were eventually invalidated. But gay marriage is now legal in that state.

Earlier this month, the mayor of Braddock, Pa., began performing gay marriages in defiance of the law.

In New Mexico, Ellins said in a statement that he carefully read state laws and concluded the "state's marriage statutes are gender neutral and do not expressly prohibit Dona Ana County from issuing marriage licenses to same-gender couples."

Ellins said he had been considering issuing the licenses since June, when New Mexico Attorney General Gary King issued a position paper saying state laws don't allow same-sex marriage. King had asked county clerks to hold off on issuing licenses.

He scheduled a news conference later in the day to further address the issue.

Ellins, however, said "any further denial of marriage licenses to these couples violates the United States and New Mexico Constitution and the New Mexico Human Rights Act."

"I see no reason to make committed couples in Dona Ana County wait another minute to marry," he added in his statement.

Meanwhile, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico filed an emergency request on Wednesday with the state's Second Judicial District Court to allow two women in Pojoaque, Jen Roper and Angelique Neuman, to legally marry immediately in Santa Fe County. The group said Jen Roper is suffering from terminally-ill brain cancer and is not expected to live long.

Dona Ana County became the first county in New Mexico to actively issue same-sex licenses since a Sandoval County clerk issued 64 licenses to same-sex couples in 2004. Then-Attorney General Patricia Madrid soon declared the licenses were invalid and a court later ordered the clerk to stop.

Ullman and her longtime partner, Carrie Hamblen, 45, were among the two dozen or so same sex couples to receive marriage licenses Wednesday.

"People started clapping as soon as we walked in," Ullman said. "And more are coming from Albuquerque trying to make it here by this afternoon."

On Tuesday, a same-sex couple from Santa Fe asked the New Mexico Supreme Court to streamline the handling of lawsuits seeking to legalize gay marriage in the state.

State Rep. Brian Egolf, D-Santa Fe, a lawyer who represents the couple, said the goal is to get a quick lower court decision and clear the way for an expedited ruling by the state's highest court.

The justices were being asked to consolidate all cases involving the issue and assign a district court judge in Santa Fe, who would issue a ruling that would go directly to the state Supreme Court for review.

Santa Fe County Clerk Geraldine Salazar said she does not plan on issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples because of pending lawsuits.

"I believe it's in the right place - the courts," Salazar said.

Couples in Bernalillo County - the state's largest county and the location of Albuquerque - also are part of a lawsuit seeking to have same-sex marriage recognized in that county.

Bernalillo County Clerk Maggie Toulouse Oliver said she was conferring with attorneys but not planning to follow Dona Ana County.