Texas gay marriage ban is unconstitutional, rules judge
A US District Judge on Wednesday ruled that the state of Texas’ same-sex marriage ban is unconstitutional.
Judge Orlando Garcia issued a preliminary injunction on the ban, and cited the Supreme Court’s 2013 strike-down of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and California’s Proposition 8.
He also, however issued a stay alongside the injunction, leaving the ban in place pending appeal.
Garcia wrote: “Today’s court decision is not made in defiance of the great people of Texas or the Texas Legislature, but in compliance with the U.S. Constitution and Supreme Court precedent.
“Without a rational relation to a legitimate governmental purpose, state-imposed inequality can find no refuge in our U.S. Constitution.”
Two couples in the state earlier this month challenged the state’s ban on same-sex marriage.
