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.
At NMI’s mayoral forum Wednesday night, the three candidates were asked if they would support efforts at the state level to give gay people the right to marry in New Mexico. Both Richard Romero and Martin Chavez said they would.
Former state senate president pro tem Richard Romero said unequivocally that he did support gay marriage.
Two-term State Rep. Richard Berry said just as unequivocally that he didn’t.
But incumbent mayor Martin Chavez gave a classic political response, perhaps indicating he has political ambitions beyond the Albuquerque mayor’s office. He gave his full support to equality and civil rights for the GLBT community without ever uttering the quotable term “gay marriage,” and he had to be pressed on the issue.
This observation is made even more interesting by the fact that he does indeed appear to have significant support from the gay and lesbian community. Chavez claimed an endorsement from Equality New Mexico, the statewide GLBT advocacy group that is clearly a leader in the fight for gay marriage.
While we have not seen an endorsement statement by EQNM, we did register a prominent notice making the rounds over the past week for a fundraiser to benefit EQNM that featured Martin Chavez. Somehow, an EQNM logo with a picture of Martin Chavez next to it being circulated virally around the web gives the impression that they like the guy.
Here are the verbatim responses on the topic last night, plus the rebuttal section:
Romero: I have been on record as supporting domestic partnership rights, …and I would support gay marriage.
Berry: I believe marriage should be defined as between one man and one woman. In the legislature I voted against domestic partnerships because I feel like the way the legislation has been crafted, its similar to other states, crafted so that a court challenge would be brought up …and the courts would decide on rather we have same sex marriage in our state and I don’t think its up to the courts to decide that.
Chavez: I absolutely think that what constitutes a marriage is a state decision. I’m very pleased to have been endorsed by Equality New Mexico…very pleased that in the city of Albuquerque we have domestic partnerships by executive order. …it’s amazing to me that here we are in the midst of a recession and the question is about who can marry each other. We have really serious issues here and I don’t see what the problem is with folks being together, folks loving each other, folks supporting each other…
On rebuttal:
Romero: The mayor still hasn’t answered whether he supports gay marriage or not. Do you?
Chavez: Yeah, I’m a member of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and we unanimously passed legislation in support of marriage, and also very important, saying that folks ought not be discriminated against because they have chosen to lawfully enter into a wedding or a marriage.
Romero: I take that as a yes?
At this point, the candidates were passing a hand-held microphone back and forth. And Romero, who was holding the mic, pointed it back toward Chavez, who nodded his head and said, “Yes.”
Although the hundreds of people who were at the forum saw the exchange, it was not caught on video, as the camera was already panning to Richard Berry who used his 30 seconds of rebuttal time to say this:
It’s unfortunate when you can’t decouple individuals and diversity from policy making. You can certainly have respect for domestic partners and still think the institution of marriage should be between one man and one woman. It’s not an issue of respect at all.
The resolution by the U.S. Conference of Churches that Chavez referred to was passed early this summer. Titled Equality and Civil Rights for Gay and Lesbian Americans, it says this about gay marriage:
“BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that The U.S. Conference of Mayors supports marriage equality for same-sex couples, and the recognition and extension of full equal rights to such unions, including family and medical leave, tax equity, and insurance and retirement benefits, and opposes the enshrinement of discrimination in the federal or state constitutions.”
