Breaking: Santa Fe City attorney maintains marriage for same-sex couples already legal in New Mexico

City Attorney Geno Zamora says in a three-page opinion that New Mexico’s statutory definition of marriage is gender-neutral and doesn’t define marriage as between a man and a woman. The law instead emphasizes the consent of the two people who want to wed, saying that 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,” Zamora noted. Mayor David Coss and Councilor Patti Bushee also announced that they are sponsoring a council resolution recognizing same-sex marriage as legal in the state and encouraging county clerks to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.