New Mexico Expands LGBTQ+ Protections

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Patricia Tsipras

June 14, 2023

Effective June 16, 2023, New Mexico amended its Human Rights Act.

The Human Rights Act prohibits, among other things, an employer from discriminating against an individual on the basis of race, age, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, childbirth or conditions related to pregnancy or childbirth, physical or mental disability or serious medical condition, and, if the employer has 50 or more employees, spousal affiliation.

The amendments add gender to the list of protected characteristics and now define such terms as sex, sexual orientation, gender, and gender identity, as follows:

• “Sex” is defined as “a person’s categorization as male, female or intersex based on biology, physiology and physical characteristics.”
• “Sexual orientation” is defined as “a person’s physical, romantic or emotional attraction to persons of the same or a different gender or the absence of such an attraction.”  Currently, “sexual orientation” is defined in the Act to mean heterosexuality, homosexuality, or bisexuality, whether actual or perceived.
• “Gender identity” is defined as “a person’s self-perception, based on the person’s appearance, behavior or physical characteristics, that the person exhibits more masculinity or femininity or the absence of masculinity or femininity whether or not it matches the person’s gender or sex assigned at birth”
• “Gender” is defined as “an individual or societal expectation or perception of a person as masculine or feminine based on appearance, behavior or physical characteristics.”

New Mexico employers should ensure that their policies and handbooks are updated, and that their human resource professionals and managers are trained, for compliance with the amendments.

The author of this article, Patricia Tsipras, is a member of the Bar of Pennsylvania. This article is designed to provide one perspective regarding recent legal developments, and is not intended to serve as legal advice in New Mexico, or Pennsylvania, or any other jurisdiction, nor does it establish an attorney-client relationship with any reader of the article where one does not exist. Always consult an attorney with specific legal issues.