DP Bill, Marriage Ban Move Forward in NM

February 23, 2005

SANTA FE, NM — A Senate committee has approved two bills on same-sex relationships: One that would ban gay marriage and another that would allow domestic partnerships.

The Defense of Marriage Act would define marriage as between a man and a woman. It passed the Public Affairs Committee on a vote of 6-to-2.

The domestic partner bill passed on a vote of 5-to-4. It would allow couples to register with county clerks as domestic partners and get most of the state rights and benefits of marriage.

Both pieces of legislation now head to the Judiciary Committee.

A similar ban on same-sex marriage, which also would have included a ban on civil unions, has already been rejected by one committee in the House. Last week the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee voted against the measure. But, the new bill, from the Senate is expected to gain approval.

Gay rights advocates say they can't stop the DOMA so they are concentrating on the domestic partnership bill.

Meanwhile, the former former clerk of Sandoval County who caused a storm in the state last year when she began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples is writing a book about her experiences.

Victoria Dunlap issued more than 60 same-sex marriage licenses on Feb. 20, 2004, before Attorney General Patricia Madrid filed a lawsuit that stopped her. The lawsuit was dismissed in January.

Dunlap, who lost the June primary for Sandoval County commissioner, has moved to Ohio where she is researching about 20 boxes of notes about her experiences in a basement office.

Dunlap - in a telephone interview with the Associated Press said she was right to issue same-sex marriage licenses and said she would do it again.

I wouldn't change anything, Dunlap said. I said I would be fair and impartial and that is what I did.

Dunlap said it wasn't until after she issued the licenses that she came to believe same-sex marriage is the most important civil rights issue of our time.

We just did what was right. We did what was fair. We know what is right and I'm proud to have done that, she said.