Potential Mayoral Candidate Announces He's Gay

Potential Santa Fe mayoral candidate Javier Gonzales said in a blog post today that he's gay.

"You see," the former Democratic Party of New Mexico chairman wrote on Familia es Familia, "when you come from a traditional family with deep roots in this community, the process of accepting that you are gay is complicated with fears about disappointing those you love, or becoming disconnected with a sense of place that is as much a part of me as my sexuality."

Meanwhile, state representative Bill McCamley, D-Las Cruces, tells SFR he's in Santa Fe to meet with Mayor David Coss about same-sex marriage.

He says this morning, the Dona Ana County Clerk started issuing licenses that say "spouse and spouse" instead of "bride and groom."

Fifteen people have received marriage licenses there, he says.

"Santa Fe has had an active interest in this situation, this issue," McCamley says, "and we're going to go—I'm going to let him know exactly what's going on down there."

McCamley originally asked Attorney General Gary King, a Democrat, to issue an opinion on whether state law allows county clerks to issue same-sex marriage licenses.

Santa Fe City Attorney Geno Zamora argued in his own memo that state law doesn't prohibit gay marriage, but an analysis by King's office disagrees with Santa Fe's interpretation. King's analysis said that while state law doesn't allow same-sex marriage, the practice of denying same-sex couples marriage licenses is vulnerable to a court challenge on constitutional grounds.

Santa Fe Reporter