SANTA FE, N.M. -- A New Mexico lawmaker has reintroduced a state-level Defense of Marriage Act that would amend the constitution to ban same-sex marriage and void recognition of marriages and civil unions from other states.

The bill, House Joint Resolution 22, was introduced last week by freshman Rep. David Chavez (R-Los Lunas), and if approved in the legislature, and then by voters in November, would prohibit New Mexico from recognizing same-sex marriages performed outside the state, as well as civil unions and possibly domestic partnerships.

In a departure from conducting normal city business, the Santa Fe city council last week outlined its position on the marriage amendment and approved an emergency resolution sponsored by Councilwoman Patti Bushee opposing the proposed ban on same-sex marriage.

“The Santa Fe City Council stood with New Mexico families last night, and sent a clear message to legislators: that in New Mexico we celebrate diversity, we respect our neighbors, and we value our families. All of our families”, said Jacob Candelaria, President/CEO of Equality New Mexico.

“With thousands of New Mexicans still struggling to get by in a rough economy, now is not the time to score political points by inciting discrimination against thousands of New Mexico families,” continued Candelaria.

“My sincere hope is that all legislators, including Rep. David Chavez, will spend their time focusing on what matters most to New Mexicans: education, jobs, and the economy," he said.

Equality New Mexico has launched a Change.org petition for Rep. Chavez to withdraw his Defense of Marriage amendment.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico accused the district of changing its policy to stop the formation of the alliance at Clovis High School, but school officials said the timing of its decision was a coincidence, and that its policy was already under review.

"This sort of tactic has been used in the past by school districts to discourage gay-straight clubs from forming," Micah McCoy, communications specialist for ACLU of New Mexico, said on Wednesday. "A lot of alarm bells went off when we saw this."

Superintendent Terry Myers called the allegations “unfair.”

Non-curricular clubs, such as the gay-straight alliance, will now have to meet before or after school, while clubs deemed to be curricular can still meet during school hours. The non-curricular clubs will also be prohibited from using the school’s public announcement system to communicate with students.

Jenna

On February 26, Jenna Bissell says she sat in her fifth-grade class at Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School for hours with a gash on her face, dried blood between her loosened permanent teeth, cut lips and a swollen nose after she tripped on the playground.

According to Jenna, her teacher never asked about her injuries or sent her to the nurse, and instead was just told to "go clean yourself off you are gross" by her teacher.

Shannon Peterson, one of Jenna's mothers, said she called the school after Jenna was picked up at the end of the school day by her grandmother, and had dried blood on her face.

Peterson said she talked to Jenna's teacher, asking why she hadn't been notified and why the girl went without treatment. Peterson said she asked, "Is this because she has two moms?" and that the teacher replied with a raised voice that yes, this was the reason and that Peterson should take her children to another school.

According to a report in the Albuquerque Journal:

Peterson said there was a pattern of tension between Bissell and her teacher, including over an assignment in which students were asked to write a book about themselves.

On one page, they were asked to write about something they did over the summer, and Bissell said she wrote about her parents' wedding in Iowa, where gay marriage is legal.

"She threw out the whole page about where my moms got married and how beautiful it was," Bissell said, referring to the teacher. "She said, 'This is gross, this is horrible, you need to write about something else.'"

Officials at Rio Rancho Public Schools would not comment on specifics of the case, but said discriminating against a student because of the makeup of her family would violate district policy.

District spokeswoman Kim Vesely said "there are differing versions of what occurred," but declined to give the district's version. The school district also declined to assist the family with Jenna's medical expenses.

The family has since moved Jenna to another school, and is planning to file suit for negligence and for violating their daughter's civil rights.

A Facebook support group for Jenna has also been created.

A previous bill that would have allowed domestic partnerships was defeated earlier this year following a lengthy debate earlier.

Gov. Bill Richardson has said that during the next session he will try again to get such a bill passed.

The bill proposing a constitutional amendment was filed by Sen. William Sharer, R-Farmington, seeks to define marriage as between one man and one woman.

This is not the first time legislation aimed at banning gay marriage has been brought up in New Mexico's legislature.

Previous bills by Sharer in 2009, and Rep. Nora Espinoza, R-Roswell in 2008 both died in committee.