Same-sex marriage issue continues to polarise in Texas

More than a decade since Massachusetts became the first US state to legalise gay marriage, the issue is as divisive as ever. An upcoming US supreme court decision on two questions central to the debate, expected in June, has led to even further polarisation.

In April, the supreme court began considering two issues regarding marriage equality: whether states should be obliged to perform same-sex marriages; and whether states should be obliged to recognise same-sex marriages from other states.

The questions originated from of cases in Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan and Tennessee. The supreme court’s decision, however, will affect the entire nation. Since the court declared the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional in 2013, more than 80 cases have been heard in state and federal courts.

While it is widely anticipated that the court will rule in favour on both counts, this doesn't appear to be much of a concern for those in opposition, at least according to Jonathan Saenz, the leader of Texas-based organisation called Texas Values. He says that any supreme court decision striking down the constitutionality of the state's decade-old same-sex marriage ban will not necessarily be a game-changer.

Biblical values

The president of Texas Values – which stands for biblical, Judaeo-Christian values and is opposed to gay marriage, divorce and abortion – compares the growing legal support for marriage equality in other parts of the US to the abortion debate in the 1970s.

“Just look at the history of the Roe vs Wade court case,” he says, referring to the the landmark 1973 decision by the US supreme court which made abortion legal. “We thought that this case would end the debate on the issue of abortion.

“If anything all it did was create doubt about whether or not there was real legitimacy because it came from the supreme court. Now, 40 years later, we have seen various states enact very pro-woman policies that affirm the importance and value of an innocent child.

“The Roe vs Wade decision didn’t settle the abortion issue and any decision passed down by the supreme court on gay marriage won’t settle this debate either.”

The issue of same-sex marriage is particularly polarising in Texas, where conservative and religious groups enjoy much power and influence. Supporters remain optimistic though.

"The supreme court doesn't like to be too far behind," says Democratic state representative Celia Israel. "There are so many states that have already legalised it. So the timing is right for them to go ahead and weigh in in a positive way. It feels like maybe this is finally our time."

Israel is still concerned that any actions called for within the state itself to further marriage equality may fall on deaf ears.

“Progressive voters are not turning out in Texas,” she says. “We know they’re here, because they turned out for [President Barack] Obama. But we haven’t given them good reasons to vote of late.”

In Texas and the south more generally, socially conservative voters are more likely to exercise their democratic right and they have plenty of prominent figures in office to speak on their behalf. Last month, Republican House representative Stuart Spitzer successfully led the charge to push through an amendment to move $3 million (€2.75 million) from HIV and STD prevention programmes to instead pay for abstinence education.

“This Texas senate, this lieutenant governor, we stand with you, for we should always stand with the will of the people,” the conservative lieutenant governor Dan Patrick told a crowd of supporters who recently gathered outside the Capitol building in Austin to rally in support of the state’s ban on same-sex marriage.

Despite this, the GOP-led anti-gay marriage lobby suffered a setback last week when the Texas house of representatives failed to pass HB 4105, otherwise known as the Preservation of Sovereignty and Marriage Act.

The Bill would have banned state or local government employees from “recognising, granting, or enforcing same-sex marriages”.

Constitutionality

The constitutionality of the gay marriage ban in Texas has been under increased scrutiny since a same-sex couple successfully married in Travis County, Texas, in February.

Sarah Goodfriend and Suzanne Bryant, who have been together for more than three decades, were issued the marriage licence under "special circumstances" as one of them had "severe and immediate health concerns", a county spokeswoman said in a statement.

Hours later, however, the order by state district judge David Wahlberg was blocked by the Texas supreme court, stopping other gay couples from obtaining marriage licences.

"We could go to another state and get married but Texas is our home and we really wanted to be married where we were born and where we'll probably die," Bryant told The Irish Times.

“The licence we got was a ‘one time’ order for us. We’d love for everyone else in Texas to have the right to marry whomever they choose. What we have achieved might crack open that door a little further and at the very least, get Texans used to the idea of gay marriage.”