Senate OKs gay conversion ban

SANTA FE — A bill that would make New Mexico the latest state to limit gay conversion therapy is headed to the state House. The Senate approved the bill 32-6 Thursday, after several Republican senators questioned whether it would target religious teachings.

Sen. Jacob Candelaria, D-Albuquerque, the sponsor of Senate Bill 121 and the first openly gay man to be elected to the Senate, insisted it would not, saying it would merely make it illegal to be paid for providing conversion therapy to someone under 18 years old.

Gay conversion therapy is a practice that seeks to change one’s sexual orientation. Laws targeting it have been enacted in about a half-dozen states.

“The fundamental idea that homosexuality is a disease is wrong — it’s junk science,” Candelaria said during Thursday’s debate, before later adding: “I think I have a lot of faults … but being gay isn’t one of them.”

— Dan Boyd, dboyd@abqjournal.com

CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION:

A fierce debate broke out in the state House late Wednesday — over whether to rescind New Mexico’s decades-old applications for a convention to amend the U.S. Constitution.

Democrats pushed to call back the applications, arguing that a constitutional convention could be used to roll back the First Amendment and other civil rights.

Republicans, in turn, argued that a convention called by the states could be used to protect against abuse by the federal government. Several mentioned the possibility of a constitutional amendment that could force Congress to balance the federal budget and control spending.

It would take two-thirds of the states — at least 34 — to call a convention under Article V of the U.S. Constitution. New Mexico is one of 27 states that have called for such a convention, according to legislative analysts.

But House Speaker Brian Egolf, D-Santa Fe, said it was time to rescind the applications, which were passed in 1951, 1965 and 1976.

“I think it is reckless to participate in a call for a constitutional convention that could rewrite every part of the Bill of Rights, as well as the body of the Constitution,” Egolf said.

The House voted 35-33 to rescind the applications. The measure now heads to the state Senate.

— Dan McKay, dmckay@abqjournal.com

ETHICS PANEL: Common Cause New Mexico, a nonpartisan group, has spent at least 39 years pushing for an independent ethics commission empowered to investigate misconduct by state lawmakers and others. Perhaps this is the year. House Joint Memorial 8, a proposed constitutional amendment to establish an ethics commission, has cleared two committees and must pass one more before reaching the House floor.

It passed the House Local Government, Elections and Land Grant Committee on Thursday in a unanimous vote.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers is sponsoring the proposal: Sen. Jeff Steinborn, D-Las Cruces, and Reps. Jim Dines, R-Albuquerque; Nathan Small, D-Las Cruces; and Bill McCamley, D-Mesilla Park.

— Dan McKay, dmckay@abqjournal.com