After New Mexico passed a State Supreme Court ruling to legalize gay marriage and provide same-sex couples with marriage licenses, a county clerk and her deputy resigned in protest, the Associated Press reported.
Roosevelt County manager Charlene Webb said Clerk Donna Carpenter and Deputy Clerk Janet Collins quit Friday morning after the new law legalizing gay marriage was passed on Thursday, but did not comment on why the two chose to quit, the AP reported.
But county commissioners confirmed their resignations were in protest to Thursday's ruling which now states it is unconstitutional to bar same-sex marriages, allowing same-sex couples to obtain marriage licenses, according to the AP.
According to Commissioner Bill Cathey, the act was a blatant sign of protest and said both employees would prefer to quit "than be associated with that," the AP reported. The clerk's office will remain closed until a replacement is hired.
Though the bill is passed and same-sex couples are already getting married, anti-gay marriage protesters are already in the works to try and fight the court's decision, the AP reported.
"If they are saying it is unconstitutional, we need to make it constitutional," said State Senator William Sharer, a Farmington Republican, according to the AP. He added that a legislature would be created in January to allow voters to decide on the law. Other groups like the Flora Vista-based Voices for Family Values have already started a petition to present to lawmakers.
The San Juan County Clerk's Office were the first to marry a same-sex couple on Thursday afternoon, the AP reported. Luciana Velasquez and Deann Toadlena were married three hours later in Orchard Park in Downtown Farmington.
"We've been waiting for seven years. It's the best day of my life," Toadlena said, according to the AP. "Everything I wanted was given to me today."
