Texas judge still fightg to ny weddg ceremoni to gay upl | The Texas Tribune

Contents:

• GAY MARRIAGE LAWS IN TEXAS
• TEXAS GOP'S NEW PLATFORM LLS GAY PEOPLE 'ABNORMAL' AND REJECTS TRANS INTI
• TEXAS JUDGE WHO DON'T WANT TO PERFORM GAY MARRIAGE CEREMONI HOP WEB SIGNER'S SUPREME COURT SE HELPS HER FIGHT
• FIFTEEN YEARS AFTER LANDMARK GAY RIGHTS SE, SAME-SEX UPL TEXAS STILL FACE CHALLENG URT
• GAY MARRIAGE
• GAY MARRIAGE
• GAY RIGHTS
• TEXAS JUDGE WHO DON’T WANT TO PERFORM GAY MARRIAGE CEREMONI HOP WEB SIGNER’S SUPREME COURT SE HELPS HER FIGHT

GAY MARRIAGE LAWS IN TEXAS

87(R) HB 1037: Relatg to certa statutory chang to reflect and addrs same-sex marriag and parentg relatnships and to the removal of provisns regardg the crimaly or unacceptabily of homosexual nduct. " In the ey of the law, bee they were gay — and had allegedly acted on , the privacy of their own home — Garner and Lawrence were now alleged were, que physilly and lerally, outed.

TEXAS GOP'S NEW PLATFORM LLS GAY PEOPLE 'ABNORMAL' AND REJECTS TRANS INTI

But for gay rights, was also arrt would spark a years-long legal battle that would erase anti-gay laws Texas and 13 other stat, and lay the groundwork for every major LGBTQ rights advance that me after .

But as the anniversary of Lawrence and Garner's urt w approach, gay and lbian Texans are wonrg how far they've e the battle for their rights — and how far they have to Garner (left) and John Lawrence were platiffs the U. Supreme Court stck down Texas’ ban on “homosexual nduct, ” the law that land Lawrence and Garner jail that September night 1998.

Quotg a prev abortn lg, Jtice Anthony Kennedy wrote his 2003 majory opn that this and siar laws crimalizg gay sex 13 other stat were unnstutnal bee "our obligatn is to fe the liberty of all, not to mandate our own moral .

TEXAS JUDGE WHO DON'T WANT TO PERFORM GAY MARRIAGE CEREMONI HOP WEB SIGNER'S SUPREME COURT SE HELPS HER FIGHT

"“Once you had those two prcipl, the pathway to marriage equaly was pretty much laid out, ” said attorney Pl Smh, who argued the Lawrence se before the Supreme built on s of se law before , most importantly a Dallas lawsu filed 1979 by schoolteacher Don Baker, who was fired for beg gay. This means a gay or lbian uple n get married on Saturday, lose their home on Sunday and get fired on Monday, and would all be Republin-domated Legislature has also refed to remove the law banng gay sex — the one stck down as unnstutnal Lawrence vs. Gay Texans say 's meant to send the same msage did when beme law 1974.

In fact, if not for the Lawrence lg 15 years ago, Carpenter believ gay sex would still be a crimal act Texas today. “The Legislature as ’s currently nstuted is much much worse for the LGBT muny than when I was there, ” said Glen Maxey, the first openly gay member of the Texas Hoe, who retired 2003.

All but one — to give greater legal ver to adoptn agenci that ce relign to ny kids to prospective parents — failed to bee the absence of protectns om the state, ci like Dallas have taken charge, adoptg ordanc barrg discrimatn agast gay and transgenr Texans. " What are the rights of gay men and lbians, like Mansfield ISD art teacher Stacy Bailey, who was spend, the workplace?

FIFTEEN YEARS AFTER LANDMARK GAY RIGHTS SE, SAME-SEX UPL TEXAS STILL FACE CHALLENG URT

But the two men didn’t bee fixtur the gay muny after their w urt. Texas still echo urt lgs across the 's heard at llege gay-straight alliance meetgs, on the Transgenr Day of Remembrance and every legal challenge ma to anti-LGBTQ laws, which, like Lawrence and Garner, other Amerins make the choice to step to the spotlight wh the hope that their voic will make a difference, wh the dream that they'll be the on to change the urse of history. "But I want to tell other gay people, 'Be who you are, and don't be aaid.

Acrdg to the Texas judicial missn’s 2019 warng, Hensley referred gay upl who wanted her to pri over their marriage ceremony to other people who would officiate. The Texas Republin Party unveiled s official posn on LGBTQ issu over the weekend, fg homosexualy as an "abnormal liftyle choice" and also opposg "all efforts to validate transgenr inty.

"Thoands of Republin activists met at the party’s biennial nventn Hoton on Saturday to agree to the party's platform on a range of issu, cludg the rejectn of the 2020 electn rults and a ll to repeal of the 1965 Votg Right Act, which was enacted to prevent discrimatn agast Black a sectn tled "Homosexualy and genr issu, " the party suggted that LGBTQ people should not be legally protected om discrimatn and that beg gay or trans is a choice. "Homosexualy is an abnormal liftyle choice, " the 40-page rolutn reads.

GAY MARRIAGE

"We believe there should be no grantg of special legal entlements or creatn of special stat for homosexual behavr, regardls of state of orig, and we oppose any crimal or civil penalti agast those who oppose homosexualy out of fah, nvictn, or belief tradnal valu. "The Texas Republin Party blocked the Log Cab Republins, a longstandg group of gay nservativ — which also supports many of the party’s anti-LGBTQ polici — om havg a booth at Saturday's nventn. "The party's new official stance on sexual orientatn and genr inty also cis wh a recent natnwi surge charged rhetoric om media punds and policians about LGBTQ recent months, nservative lawmakers, televisn punds and other public figur have acced opponents of a newly enacted Florida tn legislatn — which crics have dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” law — of tryg to “groom” or “doctrate” children.

The word “groomg” has long been associated wh mischaracterizg LGBTQ people, particularly gay men and transgenr women, as child sex abers. Acrdg to the Texas judicial missn's 2019 warng, Hensley referred gay upl who wanted her to pri over their marriage ceremony to other people who would officiate. One law profsor at the time said “removed the reflexive assumptn of gay people’s ferry, ” layg the legal groundwork for same-sex marriage.

The lg “gave lbian, bisexual and gay people back their digny, ” said Cala Taylor, a Lambda Legal attorney who started wh the legal advocy group 2003, jt time to watch her lleague, Pl Smh — a gay man himself — argue Lawrence before the Supreme Court. Ten years later, June 26 beme an even more important tone for gay rights when the high urt stck down the Defense of Marriage Act.

GAY MARRIAGE

When Lawrence me down 15 years ago, Mark Phariss was h off an unsuccsful ph for an anti-discrimatn ordance to protect gay cy employe San Anton. That Republin learship asked the state’s hight urt to take up another high-stak gay rights se — out of Hoton, like Lawrence – that’s bee an emblem of the state’s ntug culture wars. Though gay upl n now legally marry, the platiffs claim, they don’t have all the same rights as straight upl.

“That almost sual dismissal of the rights of gay people was characteristic of Texas urts before Lawrence, and appears to be characteristic of Texas state urts now, ” said Dale Carpenter, a Southern Methodist Universy law profsor who wrote a book on the Lawrence lg. Smh expects he’ll spend next ssn on the fense agast measur like that one, as well as a slate of “relig refal” bills, which allow dividuals claimg “scere relig beliefs” to ny certa servic or products to gay upl.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton won't fend state agency gay marriage se. Fifteen years after landmark gay rights se, same-sex upl Texas still face challeng urt.

GAY RIGHTS

On June 26, 2003, the Supreme Court stck down a Texas law banng gay sodomy — a watershed moment for gay rights. The Texas Supreme Court on Friday threw out a lower urt lg that said spo of gay and lbian public employe are entled to ernment-subsidized same-sex marriage benefs.

TEXAS JUDGE WHO DON’T WANT TO PERFORM GAY MARRIAGE CEREMONI HOP WEB SIGNER’S SUPREME COURT SE HELPS HER FIGHT

The Hoe managed to make a fight out of the one issue that there seemed to be universal agreement on the Legislature, while the Texas Supreme Court cid they want to hear arguments about gay marriage after all. At several pots that hearg, the ttimony flared to the kd of vuperative opposn to gay and lbian rights that would have pleased Supreme Court Jtice Anton Slia, who died over the weekend near Marfa.