MLG now harvesting New Mexicans’ sexual orientation info
Despite Democrats’ failure to pass a bill in the 2021 Legislative Session to harvest New Mexicans’ sexual orientation data through state agencies, scandal-ridden alleged serial groper Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has signed an executive order unilaterally mandating the State to harvest this private data from citizens.
The Governor is trying to frame the new action as meant to “improve the provisions of service to a traditionally underserved population,” but during the committee process, the analogous bill, sponsored by state Sen. Carrie Hamblen, was met with backlash from community members concerned over the government getting this sensitive data and being able to use it for nefarious purposes.
“The effect of the order will be to enhance the capacity and ability of state agencies to address health disparities and identify and remove barriers to effective care for non-conforming and traditionally undeserved individuals, as well as enhance services and outreach to those groups of people,” claimed the Governor’s office in a press release.
“If we want to solve a problem, we first need information about what’s causing it,” said Lujan Grisham. “If we are to address inequities that LGBTQ+ New Mexicans experience in their interactions with state government, we must first have the information about where those breakdowns are occurring. This voluntary mechanism for demographic analysis is a tool the state of New Mexico can and will use to improve its service to traditionally underserved New Mexicans. I’m proud to have the chance to initiate that process.”
“I’m grateful this executive order will put into place the representation that is overdue and to start compiling necessary data that will be used to determine resources and services that are desperately needed and deserved,” claimed Hamblen.
Despite community members concerns over the harvesting of this data and the keeping of this database, the Governor’s Office claims, “Under the order, information that is voluntarily provided about sexual orientation and gender identity may only be used for demographic analysis, coordination of care, quality improvement of government services, conducting research and guiding policy and funding decisions. Protections about individual identification are likewise written into the order, as well.”
Time will tell if this new system will create more problems than answers.
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