Nbadan
11-20-2009, 09:59 PM
I posted this when the amendment clause was enacted, now the lawyers are getting involved....seems that if you were married in Texas, you may not be legally married thanks to a popular belief in TX that gays shouldn't be as miserable as heterosexual couples......
Texas' gay marriage ban may have banned all marriages
By Dave Montgomery | Fort Worth Star-Telegram
AUSTIN — Texans: Are you really married?
Maybe not.
Barbara Ann Radnofsky, a Houston lawyer and Democratic candidate for attorney general, says that a 22-word clause in a 2005 constitutional amendment designed to ban gay marriages erroneously endangers the legal status of all marriages in the state.
The amendment, approved by the Legislature and overwhelmingly ratified by voters, declares that "marriage in this state shall consist only of the union of one man and one woman." But the troublemaking phrase, as Radnofsky sees it, is Subsection B, which declares:
"This state or a political subdivision of this state may not create or recognize any legal status identical or similar to marriage."
Architects of the amendment included the clause to ban same-sex civil unions and domestic partnerships. But Radnofsky, who was a member of the powerhouse Vinson & Elkins law firm in Houston for 27 years until retiring in 2006, says the wording of Subsection B effectively "eliminates marriage in Texas," including common-law marriages.
Link (http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/79112.html)
Yes, the TX legislature, in its infinite wisdom, has decided to provide equality to all, not by granting gays the right to marry, but by banning marriage in the state altogether...
:hat
Texas' gay marriage ban may have banned all marriages
By Dave Montgomery | Fort Worth Star-Telegram
AUSTIN — Texans: Are you really married?
Maybe not.
Barbara Ann Radnofsky, a Houston lawyer and Democratic candidate for attorney general, says that a 22-word clause in a 2005 constitutional amendment designed to ban gay marriages erroneously endangers the legal status of all marriages in the state.
The amendment, approved by the Legislature and overwhelmingly ratified by voters, declares that "marriage in this state shall consist only of the union of one man and one woman." But the troublemaking phrase, as Radnofsky sees it, is Subsection B, which declares:
"This state or a political subdivision of this state may not create or recognize any legal status identical or similar to marriage."
Architects of the amendment included the clause to ban same-sex civil unions and domestic partnerships. But Radnofsky, who was a member of the powerhouse Vinson & Elkins law firm in Houston for 27 years until retiring in 2006, says the wording of Subsection B effectively "eliminates marriage in Texas," including common-law marriages.
Link (http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/79112.html)
Yes, the TX legislature, in its infinite wisdom, has decided to provide equality to all, not by granting gays the right to marry, but by banning marriage in the state altogether...
:hat