The clerk for New Mexico’s most populous county planned to begin
issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples Tuesday after a
state district judge declared same-sex marriage legal.

State District Judge Alan Malott on Monday ruled New Mexico’s
constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual
orientation, ordering Bernalillo County to join the state’s other two
population centers in recognizing the unions.

The decision comes on the heels of an order last week from a judge in
Santa Fe that directed the county clerk there to begin issuing marriage
licenses to same-sex couples. That followed a decision by the clerk in
the southern New Mexico county of Dona Ana to recognize same-sex
couples.

But Malott’s ruling was seen as more sweeping than the temporary
Santa Fe order because he directly declared that gay marriage was legal.