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Texas Takes a Leap Towards Legalizing Gay Marriage
Today, February 26th 2014, a district judge struck down the ban of same-sex marriage in Texas. Judge Garcia's main argument was that the ban was unconstitutional because it did not serve a legitimate governmental purpose. The opposition are arguing that the Supreme Court has given the states the authority to define and regulate marriage. Also with the argument that same-sex parents will be a bad influence on the children they raise. Although this ban was struck down by Judge Garcia, it does not mean same-sex couples in Texas can marry each other now. Since Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott (Republican) appealed to the US Court of Appeals, Texans must wait until the ban goes through the appeal process before the decision can be enforced. Thinking back at the judicial branch chapter, this is a great example of a court case trying to get through the appeals courts. When the appeals courts recognizes the validity of the appeal to attempt to reverse the district court decision, it will be brought up to the Supreme Court. If Abbott succeeds in the appeals courts, he has a chance to reverse the decision of Judge Garcia, bringing ban on same-sex marriage back to Texas.
The most important aspect of this event, is that Texas is one of the most populous, conservative states in the United States. Such a conservative state taking a huge step towards legalizing same-sex marriage may impact other conservative states to follow the same path. Although no real law has been created in Texas yet, this is a huge victory for gay rights activists. Do you think step will pave the way for Texas and other strongly conservative states to legalize same-sex marriage? How will other states react to this district court decision? Although only a small percentage of cases reach the Supreme Court, do you think this is a case will reach the Supreme Court?
WashingtonPost Article
CNN Article
3 comments:
This is certainly an interesting development in the fight for same sex marriage, and as Rick has pointed out, has many interesting impactions. The circumstances of this case remind me a lot of Hollingsworth v. Perry, and I see no reason why this case should even reach the Supreme Court because the court very recently issued a precedent on this kind of case. In Hollingsworth v. Perry, the case that challenged California's prop 8 decision, the court simply refused to make a decision on the case because the parties involved didn't have standing. In the court's decision, Roberts wrote that "for there to be such a case or controversy, it is not enough that the party invoking the power of the court have a keen interest in the issue. That party must also have 'standing,' which requires, among other things, that it have suffered a concrete and particularized injury. Because we find that petitioners do not have standing, we have no authority to decide this case on the merits, and neither did the Ninth Circuit."
In Texas we have a very similar case. A law says that gay and lesbian couples cannot get married, a district judge struck it down, and now, that decision is being challenged. For the purpose of consistency, the courts should issue the same decision as Hollingsworth v. Perry, and allow the district judge's decision to stand.
Although legalization of same sex marriage in Texas would be an incredible win for gay rights, I'm not sure how it will go. The Court, as Joey said regarding Hollingsworth, let the previous decision stand. If this case does legalize gay marriage, I would have to expect the conservatives in Texas to go ballistic. I hope that the Court doesn't take this into account, but Texas is a much more difficult state to not rule because of standing. Maybe, it could turn into an even bigger win for gay rights if it could be applied more generally. I am definitely excited to follow this case to see where it goes in the future (quite possibly the Supreme Court).
I agree with Joey and commend him for hitting all the bases. It’s difficult and unwise to predict the future, but I wonder if Texas and its stance on gay marriage could hit the Supreme Court if the state (or parts of it) refused to defend or enforce laws allowing gay marriage. Like Joey said, it is similar to Hollingsworth v. Perry in terms of different levels of the judicial system disagreeing with each other.
I did some quick research to try and understand what public opinion concerning gay marriage in Texas really looks like, and I found the article I linked to below. To excerpt: “Public opinion in Texas has a dynamism of its own in the midst of a national environment that has become increasingly accepting, even blasé, about same sex couples. The accumulated results between 2009 and the most recent University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll last February suggest that the early results caught the leading edge of a shift in public opinion on the recognition of gay relationships, particularly when respondents are given the option of civil unions instead of the binary choice of either supporting or opposing ‘gay marriage.’”
Bottom line: according to the article, about 60 percent of Texans support union between gay couples in the form of either marriage or civil unions, and that number has been increasing over the years. Perhaps it’s too soon to tell what the final outcome will be in Texas.
http://www.texastribune.org/2013/03/26/polling-center-texans-view-gay-marriage-shifts/
Interesting graphic showing opinion in Texas over time: http://www.laits.utexas.edu/txp_media/html/poll/features/201211_gaymarriage/slide1.html
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