Gov. signs bills expanding LGBTQ+ rights protections
Mar. 24—Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed two bills Friday that LGBTQ+ rights advocates are hailing as major advances and a way of striking back against discriminatory laws being passed in many conservative states.
House Bill 207 extends the scope of the 1969 New Mexico Human Rights Act to cover political subdivisions such as counties and cities as well as public contractors; it also clarifies the definitions of sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and disabilities in the current law.
"While hundreds of bills have been introduced across the country to restrict the rights of queer and trans people, New Mexico is committed to making our state a safer place for everyone by closing a loophole to ensure our taxpayer dollars cannot be used to discriminate against our LGBTQ+ friends and neighbors," Rep. Kristina Ortez, D-Taos, said in a statement provided by the Governor's Office.
Lujan Grisham also signed House Bill 31 doing away with the requirement that people changing their names publish notice in a newspaper. The law lets people 14 and older petition a district court for a name change and prohibits the court from requiring notice to the applicants' parents if it finds notice would jeopardize the applicant's safety.
Supporters said the measure will benefit transgender New Mexicans seeking to change their names as well as ensure safety for victims of domestic violence who may change their names to be more secure.
"Removing this antiquated publishing requirement protects New Mexicans' privacy and allows them to safely move on with their lives," said Rep. Christine Chandler, D-Los Alamos, the bill's sponsor..
HB 31 passed the House on a party-line vote but got only five nays in the Senate. HB 207 passed the House 47-20 and the Senate 26-10, with Republicans mostly against it in both chambers and Democrats in favor.
Red and blue states have been taking sharply divergent paths over issues of LGBTQ+ rights over the past few years, a trend that accelerated this year as hundreds of bills were filed on topics such as restricting or banning transgender youth from transitioning, limiting transgender participation in sports, seeking to regulate drag shows and restricting discussion of LGBTQ+-related topics in schools. Some of these measures have made it into law in Republican-run states.
Meanwhile, Democratic-run states like New Mexico have been passing new laws to protect LGBTQ+ rights and vowing not to cooperate with efforts in red states to punish the parents of youths who transition. Supporters of the laws Lujan Grisham signed Friday framed them as a sort of pushback against what's happening elsewhere.
"Nationally, we are currently seeing over 430 anti-LGBTQ bills introduced in state legislatures across the country, many of them passing," said Marshall Martinez, executive director of Equality New Mexico. "Many states are going to the extreme by criminalizing even the appearance of trans people in public. I am proud of our legislative champions, our fierce community activists and advocates, other organizations in New Mexico, and Gov. Lujan Grisham who have said 'this will not be that kind of state.'"
Earlier this month, Lujan Grisham signed House Bill 7, which bans localities from restricting abortion or gender-affirming care for transgender people. Senate Bill 13, which would shield patients and medical providers from out-of-state investigations into abortion or gender-affirming care, is still on the governor's desk awaiting a signature or veto.
