After brief debate, a bill that would have given registered domestic partners in New Mexico the same rights as married couples was rejected yesterday, despite last minute re-writes to the bill:
"Supporters of the bill did a last-minuterewrite to remove references that could be construed asmarriage-related, but that wasn't enough to win the necessary votes. Ten Democrats joined the chamber's 15 Republicans to defeat the bill 25-17. 'I'mdisappointed by the Senate's actions today in defeating what isfundamentally an issue of civil rights and equality,' said DemocraticGov. Bill Richardson, who has been pushing the legislation for severalyears. The bill has gotten snared in the Senate for the past couple of years, although the House has passed it previously. Itwould have allowed gay or straight unmarried couples to register asdomestic partners and have the same legal protections and benefits asmarried couples. There are still three weeks left in the legislative session, but it appeared unlikely the measure could be revived. 'Ifyou're mad, you should be mad,' Linda Siegle, a lobbyist for EqualityNew Mexico, told a dejected crowd outside the Capitol. 'The people inthis building said you are not equal, you are not worthy, you do notdeserve the same rights as most of them have.' Siegle said religious groups were influential in the bill's defeat."
Equality New Mexico's Siegle and Peter Simonson of the ACLU address supporters after the vote, AFTER THE JUMP…
