equal rites

Even Texas’s(!) Gay-Marriage Ban Ruled Unconstitutional

Couples Cleopatra De Leon, front left, and partner, Nicole Dimetman, front right, and Victor Holmes, back left, and partner Mark Phariss, back right, leave the U.S. Federal Courthouse, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2014, in San Antonio. The two homosexual couples are challenging Texas' ban on same-sex marriage and have taken their case to federal court.
Photo: Eric Gay/AP

State-level gay-marriage bans are dropping like flies these days, to the point where even notoriously conservative Texas can’t keep its own on the books without a judge declaring it unconstitutional. Judge Orlando Garcia’s ruling on Wednesday leaves the state’s ban in place pending an appeal, but it shows even the conservative fifth circuit federal court is not closed to progress: “[S]tate-imposed inequality can find no refuge in our United States Constitution,” Garcia wrote. Naturally, the AP reports, “Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott was expected to file an expedited appeal.”

Even Texas’s Gay-Marriage Ban Unconstitutional