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76% of Texas Voters BAN Sodomite Marriages
Texas Proposition 2 of
2005 created an
amendment that limits marriage to opposite-sex
relationships and prohibits alternative legal arrangements of a similar
nature (see
Defense of Marriage Amendment). The bill intended to amend the
Texas Constitution to make it unconstitutional for the state to recognize or
perform
same-sex marriages, plural marriages, or
civil
unions. The referendum was approved by 76% of the voters, with
Travis County, Texas (which contains
Austin, Texas) the only county opposing the amendment, while the cities of
Houston and
Dallas were
close.[1]
The status of the amendment authorized by Proposition 2, however, is
currently in flux. It was struck down on October 1st, 2009, by Dallas District
Judge Tena Callahan on the grounds that it denies same-sex couples equal
treatment under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The lawsuit was
filed by a same-sex couple living in Dallas who had married in Massachusetts in
2006 and were seeking to get a divorce in Texas, because Massachusetts only
permits state residents to sue for divorce. Dallas attorney Peter Schulte also
claimed the protection of Article IV of the U. S. Constitution, which gives
"full faith and credit" by all states to acts validly performed in one. Texas
Attorney General Greg Abbott and Governor Rick Perry are appealing the decision
to higher courts, hoping to get the decision overturned. Same-sex marriages are
still illegal in Texas.
AP
The text of the amendment states:
(a) Marriage in this state shall consist only of the union of one man and
one woman.
(b) This state or a political subdivision of this state may not create or
recognize any legal status identical or similar to marriage.[2]
Shortly before the election, a minister in
Austin, Texas, opposed the amendment on technical grounds. According to the
minister, the wording of subsection (b) could actually be used to outlaw
marriage itself. Proponents claimed that such reasoning was simply a
"smokescreen" to confuse voters on the issue.[3][4]
In November 2009,
Barbara Ann Radnofsky, a candidate for Texas attorney general, echoed the
assertion that, since marriage is by definition identical to itself, the
amendment outlaws all marriage in Texas.[5]
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