Federal District Judge Orlando Garcia today ruled that the state's ban on same-sex marriage violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution. The clause is the same one cited in other recent rulings that seek to overturn state laws restricting marriage to one man and one woman.
The case is likely to go to the Fifth United States Circuit Court of Appeals, which generally is regarded as one of the most conservative jurisdictions in the country. Other recent cases, including appeals pending in Virginia and Utah, are heading to circuit courts that also conservative but more likely to accept the rationale that same-sex marriage is a right available under the Constitution.
It is becoming increasingly likely that the issue of same-sex marriage ultimately will be decided nationally by the United States Supreme Court, rather than by court rulings or legislation in individual states.
Thus far, same-sex marriage is legal in 17 states. Federal judges in five additional states--Virginia, Nevada, Utah, Oklahoma and now Texas--have ruled same-sex marriage laws unconstitutional. All five of these cases are subject to appeal, meaning same-sex couples cannot be married there yet.
Despite today's ruling, Texas remains a state where it is legal to fire or refuse to hire individuals based on their sexual orientation. Texas still prohibits the issuance of birth certificates to adopted children who have two moms or two dads. And Texas still has on its books a sodomy law that was overturned a decade ago by the United States Supreme Court. That law, of course, is now enforceable.
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