Texas Republicans Must Bow Down to Progress by Obeying the Marriage Equality Ruling

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Former Texas Governor Rick Perry and current Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry signed a statute in 2003 called Texas Defense of Marriage Act, which claimed that Texas does not recognize same-sex marriage. Two years later, conservatives pushed through a state amendment banning marriage equality.

On Friday, after the Supreme Court trod all over Texas by guaranteeing marriage equality to everyone, even Texans, Executive Director of Progress Texas Edward Espinoza issued a statement titled, “Texas Republicans Must Comply With Marriage Equality Ruling”:

“Attorney General Ken Paxton and Texas Republicans need to give up their backwards crusade against LGBT Texans and implement this ruling immediately. Marriage equality is now indisputably the law of the land, and loving Texas couples and their families have waited long enough for this historic moment.”

Polls show that Texans are ready for marriage equality, and any politician who is against it is on the wrong side of history. There is no legal justification for discrimination.”

Can you feel the burn?

Yes, even Texas will have to follow the law as set by the Supreme Court.

It’s not a great day to be a Republican. Not a great week to be a Republican, actually. Make that month, given the Duggar defense of a child molester debacle which then gave way to the defense of the Confederate flag.

But it’s really not a great day to be a Texas Republican, because Texas Republicans have been pushing the cart of progress in the opposite direction against public opinion for a long time now, including letting 13.5% of Texans pass a constitutional amendment banning marriage equality in 2005.

Ballotpedia describes the measure:

The measure defined marriage in Texas as solely the union of a man and woman, and provided that the state and its political subdivisions could not create or recognize any legal status identical to or similar to marriage, including such legal status relationships created outside of Texas.

Back in 2005, the measure was backed largely by two donors, who supplied 90% of the money to support the amendment, whereas opponents raised significantly more money:

Opponents had raised $391,484, more than three times as much as the $121,712 contributions in support of the proposed amendment. Yet, only two donors — San Antonio businessman James Leininger and Houston homebuilder Bob Perry — had supplied 90 percent of the money supporting the proposed Texas Marriage Amendment, Texans for Public Justice noted.

Big old Texas banned marriage equality. Stood right up to the world of progress and reality and said NO WAY. Not here.

Texas was one of only 13 states that actually banned marriage equality, so afraid of progress were they. And this was at the behest of Texas Republicans who have worked very hard to keep their state in the dark, in spite of the actual constituents of Texas growing right past them.

Now Texas Republicans must bow down to progress and obey the ruling of the Supreme Court.

Sarah Jones

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