First Circuit Court says law denying federal benefits to married LGBT couples is unconstitutional
 
 
BOSTON, MA – The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico praised today’s ruling by the First Circuit Court of Appeals that the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is unconstitutional because it denies married LGBT couples the same federal benefits available to other married couples. The decision, Gill v. Office of Personnel Management, was reached unanimously by the three-judge panel.
 
“The First Circuit clearly made the right call here,” said ACLU-NM Executive Director Peter Simonson. “LGBT couples are valued members of our communities. They work, pay taxes and contribute to the common good just like the rest of us. As the court held today, there is simply no permissible federal interest that justifies passing a discriminatory law like this.”
 
DOMA was enacted in 1996. Last year, President Obama said the Department of Justice would stop defending the constitutionality of the law. A few weeks ago, Obama made the historic announcement that, after giving the topic serious thought, he now supports marriage between same-sex couples.
 
“We’re living in an exciting moment in history,” said Simonson, “in which the general public, the courts and even the President of the United States are recognizing that the government has no business intruding into people’s family life. Times have changed. Here in New Mexico family is important, and LGBT individuals and couples are valued parts of our families. They’re our sons and daughters, brothers and sisters. This case is additional evidence that the nation is moving toward a more tolerant, accepting future.”
 
Read the 1^st Circuit Court of Appeals decision here.
 
The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a similar case in federal court on behalf of a woman who was forced to pay over $300,000 in taxes after the death of her spouse. Edie Windsor and Thea Spyer had spent for 44 years together as a committed couple. Edie nursed her wife through a long battle with multiple sclerosis, but Thea passed away in 2009.
 
Edie would not have had to pay the $300,000 if she had been married a man. The ACLU expects a decision in the case shortly.
 
###

 
 
CONTACT: William Hudson
HC 71 Box 765
San Lorenzo, NM 88041
(575) 536 3092
[email protected]
 
 
SILVER CITY, NM - The Southwestern Chapter of the ACLU of New Mexico is sponsoring a singer/songwriter competition, in connection with its Annual Meeting, to be held on October 26, 2012.  Due to continuing attempts to suppress the legitimate right of American Citizens to vote; we are looking for songs that deal with voting rights issues.  The focus can be on the historic efforts to obtain voting rights by women or minority populations; or the loss of the ability to vote due to oppressive legislation.
 

• This competition is open to all musicians in the “Border Regions” of West Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, who write and perform in any musical genre.  The prize will be a 4 hour recording session, provided by our co-sponsor, Mountain Air Productions.   Mountain Air Productions is a state-of-the-art, digital recording studio and production house, located in the performance space of Seedboat Gallery, in Silver City, New Mexico.   All submissions must be original compositions of the Artist/Performer (maximum of 2 entries per Artist/Performer)
• Entry will be made on an official entry form (contact William Hudson, at [email protected]).
• Entrants will submit a tape or CD recording of their entry (It need not be a professional recording, but should be clean enough that the listener can hear the melody and musical interpretation).
• Entrants will submit a written copy of the lyrics (so that the appropriate theme and poetic quality can be evaluated).

 
All entries must be mailed to: ACLU/Competition
C/o Peter Falley
521 E. Lance Dr.
Silver City, NM 88061
 
Entries will be evaluated by the judging panel on;

• How appropriate the song is relative to the theme (The importance of voting, Civil Liberties/Constitutionality, as it relates to voting rights)
• Artistic lyrical styling, poetic interpretation
• Musical originality, styling

All entries must arrive no later than September 14, 2012.  Finalists will be notified no later than September 28, 2012.  Finalists need to be present at The Annual Meeting of the ACLU of New Mexico, Southwestern Chapter, in Silver City, NM, on Friday October 26, 2012.  On that evening, the finalists will perform their entry live for our audience and judges for final selection of the winner.
 

###

 

 

In September, 2010, Stephen Skinner and his son Jonathan Breasher were pulled over by New Mexico State Police for driving five miles over the speed limit on their way to enjoy a father-son vacation in Las Vegas, NV. This was the beginning of an ordeal of several hours, involving a search of their luggage, a second traffic stop, confiscation of their money by Homeland Security and racial insults. With the help of the ACLU of New Mexico, Stephen and Jonathan finally have their hard-earned money back and a ready to speak out about police profiling for profit in New Mexico.