“It has been a struggle for our family because in addition to not receiving the health insurance and other benefits other military families take for granted, the government considered me and my wife strangers,” said Jennifer Altamirano, Christina’s spouse. “If she were to be wounded, killed or captured in the line of duty, the military wouldn’t even let me know.”The ACLU of New Mexico, along with the national ACLU and the National Center for Lesbian Rights, filed a lawsuit on March 21 that seeks to clarify New Mexico’s law regarding marriage for same-sex couples. The lawsuit alleges that under New Mexico’s Constitution, committed and loving same sex couples should already be allowed to marry in our state. Should this suit prove successful, married same-sex couples in New Mexico would enjoy full federal marriage benefits now that DOMA has been removed.
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By Micah McCoy