New Mexico Senate poised to vote on domestic partnership bill today
February 26, 2009
Marybeth Lennox is heading back to Santa Fe this morning to witness the full senate vote on the New Mexico domestic partnership bill. Here's her early first report for the day: 
It's 6:45am (MT), and Dimas Natividad and I are on the Rail Runner heading to Santa Fe once again. This time we're going for the full senate vote for Senate Bill 12, the Domestic Partnership Rights and Responsibilities Act. To say we're nervous is certainly an understatement. So much passion, energy and emotion has been put into this work. Each day we've heard both positive and discouraging estimates about what the results of the full vote might be. Still, I am optimistic that we will get this bill passed and sent to the House. Dimas is an 18-year-old advocate for this civil rights bill as well as an advocate for the LGBT community. He is a member of the young GBT men's group here called MPower, who focus on HIV prevention education. He has been a constant volunteer in the HRC field plan for passing this bill--sometimes getting to the office before me! So, to Santa Fe we go to be there early to help pack the Senate Gallery floor to show our support for the bill. The vote might not happen until late in the day so we could be there for a while. Terry McGuire, the other HRC field organizer here on the ground, is already up there, having run a last minute phone bank in Santa Fe last night to help push those last few support calls into the right offices. We will meet him and the rest of the Domestic Partner Coalition soon! Stay tuned for updates throughout the day.
