Marriage in most families is a momentous occasion, and for those that choose to walk down the aisle, it marks the beginning of a new life for the wedded couple. Marriages form a backbone of not only family history, but American history as well. But for LGBT Texans that treasured history is being not only prevented, but destroyed by the state’s Big Government Attorney General. As revealed this week, Greg Abbott has decided to be a roadblock to equality yet again, filing an appeal to the recent ruling that struck down the state’s marriage ban. Here’s the information directly from the full text of the Attorney General’s filing…
Texas’s marriage laws are rooted in a basic reality of human life: procreation requires a male and a female. Two people of the same sex cannot, by themselves procreate. All the Equal Protection Clause requires is that Texas’s marriage be rationally related to a legitimate state interest. Texas’s marriage laws easily satisfy that standard. The state’s recognition and encouragement of opposite sex marriages increases the likelihood that naturally procreative couples will produce children, and that they will do so in the context of stable, long-lasting relationships. By encouraging the formation of opposite sex marriages, the State seeks not only to encourage procreation but also to minimize the societal costs of procreation outside of stable, lasting marriages.
Curious how the Attorney General, and Republican candidate for Governor keeps bringing up this point about stability. Clearly Abbott doesn’t think that LGBT Texans are “stable enough” to handle meaningful relationships. Of course, as the Houston Chronicle points out, these are the very same flawed arguments that have been rejected several times in other Appeals courts…
LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) and pro-gay marriage activists were surprised Abbott led with the “responsible procreation” argument since it has been rejected in the 10th and 4th Circuit Courts.
“It hasn’t succeeded very often because it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense and it doesn’t really comport with what most of us think about marriage,” said Rebecca Robertson, legal and policy director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas. “(State law) doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has to be reasonable.”
Any outcome in the 5th Circuit would be a win for the gay marriage movement, said Steve Rudner of Equality Texas.
If the court upholds Judge Garcia’s ruling overturning the ban, it will bolster LGBT activists’ case. If it becomes the first appeals court to toss out such a ruling, creating a circuit court split, it could put the Texas case on a fast-track to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Whether or not this ridiculous appeal is part of some meticulously orchestrated plot to entice the Supreme Court, or if it’s just the Attorney General’s blunt ignorance on display, only time will tell. But one thing we can be sure of: Greg Abbott is no friend of the LGBT community, or of any kind of equality for the state of Texas. He has shown time after time that he doesn’t support women’s rights, property rights, or even the rights to obtain vital information. This latest infringement on the rights of Texans should not be ignored. If you care about personal freedom for anyone in any capacity, please do NOT vote for Greg “Big Government” Abbott this November.
(image credit: Texas Democratic Party)