Tag Archives: Greg Abbott Same- Sex Marriage

Equality, Texas Politics

Texas GOP Lawmakers Link Same-Sex Marriage to Incest, Pedophilia

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As most of America continues to move forward with marriage equality, many in the Texas GOP insist on holding the Lone Star State back with antiquated, harmful falsehoods.  Here’s the story from the Huffington Post…

In support of Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott’s efforts to reinstate the state’s ban on same-sex marriage, more than 60 Texas lawmakers signed an amicus brief Monday arguing that recognition of gay marriage could lead to the legalization of incest, pedophilia and polygamy.

Filed with the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, 63 members of the Texas Conservative Coalition, the state legislature’s conservative caucus, advanced the notion that legalizing same-sex marriage could provide legal justification for the recognition of various moral taboos, including incest and pedophilia.

“The district court broadened the definition of the ‘existing right to marry’ as one that includes the right of people to ‘select the partners of their choosing’ for marriage, without regard to sex,” the brief contends. “If the right to select ‘partners of their choosing’ is the criterion used to invoke marriage as a fundamental right, then marriage restrictions on age, polygamy, and consanguinity are also ripe for challenge.”

As first reported by Lone Star Q, signatories include the GOP nominee for lieutenant governor, state Sen. Dan Patrick, Texas House Speaker Pro Tempore Dennis Bonnen (R) and state Sen. Ken Paxton, the Republican nominee for attorney general.

Also thanks to Lone Star Q‘s fantastic work, you can find the names of all 63 lawmakers that supported Greg Abbott’s flawed document, as well as information on how to Tweet them with your opinion of their decision.

By now in Texas, it is to be expected that such a move would receive harsh criticism from Democrats.  But Greg Abbott and his insider club are also getting some major push back from members of the GOP.  Take this statement from the Republican Liberty Caucus…

Sixty-three Texas Republican elected officials and candidates have signed on to an amicus brief in the case of DeLeon vs. Perry. Their choice to do this may offer short term political advantages but it is not in the long tem best interests of the party.

The brief stands in defense of Texas’ prohibition on same sex marriage, listing various questionable claims about the dangers of same sex marriage including an argument based on the slippery slope fallacy claiming that it will lead to the legalization of bestiality, incest, pedophilia and polygamy.

The Republican Liberty Caucus opposes using this issue as a campaign tactic. It will embarrass the party and the temporary gain in partisan voters is not worth the ultimate loss in party membership and support in the general election. It is the wrong position to take for party that believes in liberty and equality under the law.

The Republican Party needs to take a position on this issue based on reason and the best interests of the public. The best course for the protection of religious liberty and individual rights is to advocate the removal of marriage from the control of the state.

While it’s good to see that these shameful beliefs are not held by the whole of the Texas Republican Party, the thought of having Greg Abbott and Dan Patrick in the state’s top elected offices is especially scary after seeing this brief.  Anyone that cares about Marriage Equality or just stands for the truth should remember this in November. As they have proven here, a vote for Greg Abbott, Dan Patrick, Ken Paxton or any of these other legislators is a vote spread harmful, malicious lies about the LGBT community. 

(photo credit: the Texas Tribune)

Houston Politics

Abbott Files “Emergency” Stay To Stop Marriage Equality Case

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Chances are when someone says the word “emergency” to you, some of the images that may cross your mind are those of an ambulance or fire truck speeding to save someone in danger. Or perhaps the loud sound of alarm bells at a school being threatened by a storm.

But apparently to Gubernatorial Candidate Greg Abbott, the threat of wedding bells and divorce court constitutes an emergency of the utmost importance. This week after a District Judge moved to hear the case of a lesbian couple seeking a divorce, Attorney General Abbott raced to put an emergency stay on the decision. Here’s more from Lone Star Q…

Warning of the possibility of same-sex marriages and “legal chaos,” Attorney General Greg Abbott has convinced a Texas appeals court to halt a San Antonio judge’s decision striking down the state’s marriage bans.

State District Judge Barbara Nellermoe ruled Tuesday that a lesbian couple’s divorce and child custody case could proceed, citing a federal judge’s ruling in February declaring Texas’ marriage bans unconstitutional.

However, the Austin American-Statesman reports that Abbott requested an emergency stay from the 4th District Court of Appeals, warning “to avoid the legal chaos that would follow if the trial court’s broadly worded ruling is mistakenly interpreted as authorization for the creation or recognition of same-sex marriages in Bexar County or throughout the state.”

The 4th Court of Appeals granted the stay on Thursday.

Abbott, a Republican who’s running for governor, is defending the state’s marriage bans against three federal lawsuits, from same-sex couples, including the one in which U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia ruled in favor of marriage equality in February. Abbott is appealing Garcia’s decision, which was also stayed, to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

It’s an interesting window into the mind of Abbott and his anti-equality colleagues. Challenging Texas’ same-sex marriage ban would result in legal chaos, but cutting billions of dollars from Texas’ schoolchildren is no big deal? He’s also not in a big rush to provide a pathway for millions of Texans to access life-saving healthcare either. Both of those problems seem much more chaotic than a few people that want to marry who they love, or be granted a divorce.

Back to the chaos point, isn’t it time to drop all of the fire and brimstone rhetoric around marriage equality anyway? Calamity has yet to erupt in any of the 17 states that now grant same-sex marriages, and there’s no reason to assume the Lone Star State would be different. When are Conservatives going to stop sounding the alarm on this? Pretty soon, no one will believe them anyway.