Federal Judge Finds TEXAS Ban On Marriage Equality Unconstitutional!

A federal judge has just ruled that Texas's constitutional ban(s) on marriage equality, passed by voters in 2003 and 2005, violate the due process and equal protection clauses of the United States Constitution!

However, like judges in Virginia, Oklahoma and Kentucky, U.S. District Court judge Orlando Garcia put a stay on his ruling until the appellate court (in this case the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals) could review his ruling. Texas Attorney General Gregory Abbott is a well-known homophobe who is running for Governor and will almost certainly appeal the ruling to the bitter end.

However, it is striking that even in deep in the heart of deep red Texas, federal judge found that the arguments in favor of maintaining legal discrimination in marriage to be so lacking that he would say the following:

“Today’s court decision is not made in defiance of the great people of Texas or the Texas Legislature, but in compliance with the U.S. Constitution and Supreme Court precedent. Without a rational relation to a legitimate governmental purpose, state-imposed inequality can find no refuge in our U.S. Constitution.”

In other words, even under rational basis review, the judge ruled that a state constitutional ban on marriage equality fails to be upheld under the most deferential form of judicial review.

Hat/tip to Equality on Trial