AUSTIN (AP) At a hastily called press conference, Texas Pastor/Governor Rick Perry declared Texas to be in a state of emergency following a judge’s ruling that the state’s prohibition of same sex marriage was unconstitutional. Perry explained, “This judicial activism threatens the sanctity of conservative republican politics in this state. As your Pastor/Governor, I will not stand idly by while every traditional marriage is nullified, and every church sanctuary is forcibly converted to an Abercrombie & Fitch factory outlet store. In this dire state of emergency, I urge my fellow patriotic Americans to join me in praying that our Lord will smite down this judge and his satanic gay agenda before they destroy the very fabric of society.
After having lived in Texas for 10+ years (3,722 days…not that I was counting), I never would have imagined I’d see the day when same-sex marriage would be even the remotest of possibilities in the People’s Theocratic Republic of Dumfukistan. It’s far too early to declare victory over bigotry and hatred, but yesterday’s ruling that Texas’ prohibition of same-sex marriage is unconstitutional is a positive step. It’s too early in the sense that Federal Judge Orlando Garcia stayed his ruling until an appellate court can rule on the case. So, yeah, no one’s going to be marrying gay couples in Texas just yet. Even if the appellate court upholds Garcia’s ruling, you can bet the legal challenges from the Texas Taliban will come fast and furiously.
Because if there’s one thing the Texas Taliban holds to be sacred, it’s their God-given “right” to oppress and discriminate against Teh Gayz.
The case was brought by two couples: Victor Holmes and Mark Phariss, who want to marry in Texas, and Cleopatra De Leon and Nicole Dimetman, who want their Massachusetts marriage recognized. Dimetman and De Leon are raising a child together. The ruling would prevent the state from enforcing its 2003 law and 2005 constitutional amendment that limited marriage to opposite-sex couples. Voters passed that amendment by a 3-to-1 margin, but a plurality of Texans now support marriage equality.
According to the ruling, not only are these families denied benefits under the law, they are also subjected to “state sanctioned discrimination, stigma, and humiliation,” explaining: “In this case, it is clear that Plaintiffs suffer humiliation and discriminatory treatment under the law on the basis of their sexual orientation, and this stigmatic harm flows directly from Texas’ ban on same-sex marriage.” Garcia cited Windsor, the Supreme Court’s ruling overturning the Defense of Marriage Act, noting that not recognizing same-sex marriages “demeans the couple, whose moral and sexual choices the Constitution protects.”
To refer to Texas as “not exactly gay-friendly” would be something of an understatement, but that seems to be changing. As in the rest of the country, increasing numbers of Texans have decided that same-sex marriage isn’t an issue and that marriage is marriage. With the tide of history clearly beginning to change, it’s time for red states like Texas to concede to reality and join the 21st century. Ride the wave or drown in the flood.
It’s interesting that resistance to same-sex marriage is much stronger in small town and rural areas of Texas than in the larger cities like Austin, Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio. Austin’s a pretty liberal town, Houston has an openly lesbian mayor…and neither of those things have caused God’s judgment to rain down upon Texans. Of course, there’s the Texas Taliban-controlled Republican Party, most of which remain convinced that homosexuality and Liberalism are directly responsible for every hurricane and natural disaster that’s ever been visited upon Texas. That’s not likely to change; there will always be a fringe element of brain-dead crazies who make Texas politics the comedy gold mine it’s historically been. As time goes by, though, the RWNJs will recede into the background even as they rage against the dying light. Remember when the “religious freedom” argument was used to justified racism?? That didn’t end so well, did it?
