New Mexico Supreme Court rules to allow same-sex marriage Thursday Dec 19,2013

The New Mexico Supreme Court unanimously ruled on Thursday Dec 19,2013 to allow same-sex marriage statewide, ending a patchwork arrangement that saw the unions permitted in some counties while prohibited in others

For more than two hours this morning in Santa Fe, New Mexico’s five-judge Supreme Court heard arguments for and against marriage equality, after almost 1000 same-sex couples have married since August under the state’s ambiguous marriage laws. Constitutional and statutory arguments for and against marriage equality on the basis of equal protection and equal rights were made

"Denying same-gender couples the right to marry and thus depriving them and their families of the rights, protections and responsibilities of civil marriage violates the equality demanded by the equal protection clause of the New Mexico Constitution," Justice Edward Chavez wrote in a 31-page opinion

The ruling makes New Mexico the 17th U.S. state to legalize gay and lesbian marriage