I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
The State of New Mexico will soon be offering retirement health benefits to domestic partners of state employees, both straight and gay. The move is part of the settlement of a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico. As it is now, health insurance is provided only to the spouses of state employees.In 2003, Gov. Bill Richardson issued an executive order making health insurance coverage available to domestic partners, but that coverage extended only to married couples in retirement.
In 2007, ACLU sued on behalf of three lesbian couples, arguing that not offering the same benefits to gay employees violated the state constitution’s equality guarantees.
“We are very pleased that the state has agreed to settle this litigation and provide the insurance. It wasn’t fair that the state forced lesbian and gay employees to pay the high cost of health care for often inferior health insurance for their families when they worked just as hard as their straight colleagues,” ACLU director Peter Simonson said in a press release. “I’m sure this will be welcome news to all lesbian and gay state employees, but especially to those who have retired or are planning to do so soon.”
“This is fantastic news. We can finally start planning our retirement,” said Havens Levitt, an Albuquerque public school teacher, who was a plaintiff in the case. “It means a lot that the state has acknowledged I should be treated the same as my straight colleagues.”
