Texas Lawmaker Wants to Invalidate Gay Marriages
Texas is truly on a tear. In recent months the state has banned abortion after 6 weeks, proposed wildly gerrymandered Congressional maps, and passed a law barring trans kids from playing sports. And now one lawmaker has asked the state’s attorney general if a pesky landmark Supreme Court decision on marriage equality means Texans have to recognize gay marriages.
Specifically, Republican State Rep. James White sent a letter to Attorney General Ken Paxton last week seeking his official legal opinion on whether the 2015 decision Obergefell v. Hodges, which requires states to license and recognize same-sex marriages, means that private citizens must also recognize those marriages. After all, White writes, Texas state laws defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman haven’t been officially amended or repealed.
Paxton’s office did not respond to Jezebel’s request for comment on White’s letter before publication time. The AG’s website says that most opinions are released within 180 days, but the amount of time varies based on research involved and how many briefs are received.
White uses a twisted legal argument, claiming that the Supreme Court doesn’t actually erase state laws it finds to be unconstitutional— it just leaves them dormant and unenforced by state officials. Private citizens, meanwhile, aren’t bound by those rulings. If the Attorney General were to agree with White, it could allow businesses to refuse to serve gay couples a la Masterpiece Cakeshop and maybe even let individuals sue gay couples for breaking the never-revoked law.
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I posted that on
DU a few days ago. No doubt a victory in overturning
Roe would lead to more nutjobs trying to go after the rights of others minorities, including gays and lesbians.
= new reply since forum marked as read