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Same-sex marriage became legally recognized statewide in New Mexico through a ruling by the New Mexico Supreme Court on December 19, 2013, requiring all county clerks to issue marriage licenses to qualified couples seeking marriage regardless of gender. Until then, same-sex couples could only obtain marriage licenses in certain counties of the state. Eight of 33 counties, covering 58% of the state's population, had begun issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in August and September 2013. New Mexico's marriage statute is not specific as to gender. It is the only state lacking a state statute or constitutional provision explicitly addressing same-sex marriage. Lacking a state law or judicial ruling concerning same-sex marriage prior to December 19, 2013, policy for the issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples was determined at the county level at the discretion of local issuing authorities. That is, some counties recognized same-sex marriage and issued marriage licenses to same-sex couples, while others did not. Despite the ruling by the New Mexico Supreme Court allowing same-sex marriages in the state, some of New Mexico's Native American tribes (most notably the Navajo Nation) continue to prohibit same-sex marriages within their jurisdictions and do not recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere. A small number of same-sex marriages were licensed in Sandoval County in 2004. The practice was halted later that same day, February 20, after New Mexico Attorney General Patricia Madrid issued a ruling they were invalid. On August 21, 2013, the county clerk of Doña Ana County, on his own initiative, began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Later in the month, three district judges ruling on separate lawsuits ordered first Santa Fe County, then Bernalillo County, and then Taos County, to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, with a fourth judge ordering the same in Grant County in September.〔 A similar ruling was made in Los Alamos County, where the county clerk said she would not comply with the order until it was upheld on September 4, the first time a New Mexican judge affirmed a ruling for same-sex marriage after it had been challenged. Meanwhile, county clerks in San Miguel and Valencia counties altered marriage licenses for same-sex couples.〔 On August 29, 2013, New Mexico's county clerks voted unanimously to ask the New Mexico Supreme Court to rule on the legality of same-sex marriage and the Supreme Court held a hearing on their petition on October 23. On December 19, 2013, that court issued a unanimous decision in ''Griego v. Oliver'' holding that marriage licenses must be issued to couples without respect to gender, making New Mexico the 17th state to legalize same-sex marriage. ==Statutes== New Mexico Statutes §40-1 and §40-4 define marriage and the legal status of marriages from other jurisdictions;〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=New Mexico Compilation Commission )〕 * "Marriage is contemplated by the law as a civil contract, for which the consent of the contracting parties, capable in law of contracting, is essential." * "All marriages celebrated beyond the limits of this state, which are valid according to the laws of the country wherein they were celebrated or contracted, shall be likewise valid in this state, and shall have the same force as if they had been celebrated in accordance with the laws in force in this state." In July 2007, a Massachusetts court determined that New Mexico did not have a statute banning same-sex marriage and therefore same-sex couples that were resident in New Mexico could marry in Massachusetts. State Representative Al Park raised the issue a few years later, posing a formal inquiry to New Mexico Attorney General Gary K. King who offered his view on January 4, 2011, that "a same-sex marriage that is valid under the laws of the country or state where it was consummated would likely be valid in New Mexico."〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Attorney General Gary King Issues Opinion Supporting Recognition of Out-of-State Same-Sex Marriages )〕〔 A spokesman for Governor Susana Martinez responded by noting noted "that no New Mexico court has ruled on this issue." The advocacy group Freedom to Marry complained that New Mexico had yet to respond to the Massachusetts ruling even though, in its view, "New Mexico's laws do not prohibit marriage between same-sex couples".〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=New Mexico )〕 The plaintiffs in ''Griego v. Oliver'' argued when they initiated their lawsuit in March 2013 that the failure of New Mexico's statutes to specify the gender of the parties to a marriage contract and their gender-neutral language allowed state officials to interpret them to allow them to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. When the New Mexico Supreme Court issued it decision in that case on December 19, 2013, the court unanimously held: 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Same-sex marriage in New Mexico」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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