Bringing marriage to New Mexico: Republican county clerk Victoria Dunlap will be out of a job in January, but until then she'll fight for the rights of same-sex couples.

Prompted by a public inquiry, Sandoval County clerk Victoria Dunlap examined New Mexico's marriage laws and decided that she was bound by their language to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. So on February 20, amid a firestorm of controversy, the Republican issued 66 licenses to gay and lesbian couples before the state attorney general intervened that same day.

Dunlap has since vowed to continue the practice and is currently fighting a temporary restraining order. Her crusade hasn't sat well with a number of people in New Mexico, including her fellow Republicans. "Other than assassination, all we can do is censure her, "said Richard Gibbs, of the Sandoval County Republican Party's central committee, on April 20.

Dunlap decided to forgo reelection as clerk to run for county commissioner, but on June 1 she was defeated in the Republican primary by a nearly 3-1 ratio. The longtime artist and 17-year resident of New Mexico spoke to The Advocate about the licenses, local Republicans, and what she plans to do when her term expires in January.--Christoper Lisotta

Why did you decide to issue marriage licenses?

I had a person call and ask if we did perform same-sex marriages. And I said as of yet we had not but I would look into it. I had one of my staff members ask an attorney, and he said that we had to issue the licenses. We could not prohibit anyone based upon sex.

Were you surprised by the reaction from people who oppose it?

I didn't realize it was going to get this big. I'm a very open-minded person, and I always have been, and to me, it was just doing the right thing.

Some Republicans in Sandoval County have said some pretty ugly things.

I have been attacked by them since the very beginning [of my term]. But once they said they were going to assassinate me, I mean, that was a little bit over-the-top, it surprises me to some degree, but you prepare for the worst. But I got a call from our ex-governor Gary Johnson. When they made the comment about assassination, he said he thought that was ridiculous and that wasn't the way the majority [of Republicans] felt.

Some of your critics have said you issued the licenses to snub your local Republican detractors.

Oh, no. Since I've been in office [the county Republicans] have wanted me to be very political. But I basically stated immediately that I would not get involved with politics while I was in the office--that it would be business, nothing personal.

What do you say to people who think you did this for political gain?

It doesn't mean anything to me. Most people that know me know where I have always stood where rights are concerned. We're trying to reinvent what it means to be a free country and have rights.

So how do you feel about the election results?

I didn't really get out and campaign as hard as I should have. I would imagine that the hard-core Republicans were the ones [who voted]--mostly the fanatics about the gay issue. I'm sure it bad some impact on the election.

Having lost, do you regret issuing the marriage licenses?

Oh, no. It just freed up time to work more in this area. What I want to do is work on something that is going to benefit all of humanity, and that is the gay issue.

What's your next step?

I'm going to finish up what I have in the [clerk's] office, but I'll be putting all my focus on this gay marriage issue. We're going to the what motions we need to in the courts mad prepare for our next court date.