BOOK REVIEW: Heaven, My Home (Highway 59, #2) by Attica Locke

Heaven, My Home is the second in a series of police procedural books about a Black Texas Ranger written by Attica Locke (who is also well-known for her trenchant writing on television shows such as Little Fires Everywhereand Empire). The main character in the books is Darren Matthews, and the central tension of the books come from the conflicts and circumstances that arise when one of the very few Black man in a predominantly white prestigious crime-fighting organization like the Texas Rangers has to interact with rednecks in rural sections of the state.

In Bluebird, Bluebird, Darren was involved in trying to solve a pair of murders with racial overtones (the bodies of a black man and a white woman are found dumped separately in a nearby river a few days apart) in a very small town up Highway 59 from Dallas. In the sequel, Heaven, My Home, Darren is asked to drive up Highway 59 to the Southern gothic tourist destination of Jefferson to find a missing 10-year-old kid, Levi King. Levi just happens to be the son of jailed notorious white supremacist Bill King and was last seen alive by Leroy Page, an elderly Black man who happens to own most of the property near Lake Caddo in an area called Hopetown where Native Americans, African Americans and poor Whites have been squatting for years. The child’s grandmother Rosemary King is the richest person in the nearby town of Jefferson but doesn’t seem that worried about her kin’s well-being, but Rosemary does seem fixated on getting her greedy hands on the Leroy’s deed to Hopetown.

If the story in Heaven, My Home doesn’t seem complicated enough there are still several unresolved issues from the first book. Because of this, Darren is currently being blackmailed by his own ne’er-do-well mother to keep quiet that she has a piece of evidence that if it were revealed Darren knew existed and were given to authorities might not only lead to him losing his job, but potential indictment and prosecution. Additionally, while Darren’s marriage started off in an “it’s complicated” phase in the first book, it morphs into the slow-motion train wreck stage when he starts noticing oddly charged interactions between his best friend and wife and this leads him to reach out to the widow he was powerfully (and chastely) attracted to in the first book.

The writing is delightful in both books and the mysteries are compelling, if somewhat implausibly racially charged, in both cases. One would think these features would make these books resonate with he but, surprisingly, they don’t. Primarily, I just don’t sympathize (or empathize) with Darren. He makes (and made) some bad choices in this book and the previous one. He’s clearly a (barely) functional alcoholic. Of course, there’s a long history of detectives being alcoholic, addicted messes (looking at you, John Rebus!) but here the setting of backwoods Texas repels instead of propelling me.

I hope Ms. Locke writes more books in the Highway 59 series, and I think I will probably get around to reading them, although I won’t feel an urgent need to do so.

Title: Heaven, My Home.
Author: Attica Locke.
Format: Kindle.
Length: 336 pages.
Publisher: Mullholland Books.
Date Published: September 17, 2019.
Date Read: February 20, 2021.

GOODREADS RATING: ★★★½☆  (3.5/5.0).

OVERALL GRADE: A-/B+ (3.5/4.0).

PLOT: B+.
IMAGERY: A-.
IMPACT: A-.
WRITING: A-.

BOOK REVIEW: Bluebird, Bluebird (Highway 59, #1) by Attica Locke

Bluebird, Bluebird is the first book by Attica Locke that I have read. It’s a police procedural, murder mystery novel based in Texas. The main character, Darren Matthews, is one of the very few Black Texas Rangers. I wasn’t aware before reading this book that the Rangers are sort of like a State-based version of the FBI. In other words they have the ability to make a “state” case out of crimes that can supersede local jurisdiction. Matthews is one of the very few Black people in a predominantly white organization and this reality and how he (and his colleagues) deal with race animates a significant portion of the book. And  this story is taking place in Texas, with an infamously racist past and unambiguously racist present.

As with most interesting protagonists of mystery novels, Matthews is a complicated character. He has problems at work and at home. His wife has basically kicked him out, because she doesn’t approve of his job as a Ranger when he just needs one more year of law school to be an upstanding attorney like she is. (Matthews left University of Chicago Law School and returned home to East Texas where he was raised by his twin uncles after the grotesque hate-infused murder of James Byrd made headlines and inspired federal hate crimes legislation.) He’s basically been suspended from his job as a Ranger due to his improperly close relationship with an elderly Black man who the police view as a suspect in the suspicious shooting of a racist redneck who before he died had been harassing the suspect’s granddaughter.

So we aren’t surprised at the beginning of Bluebird, Bluebird when Matthews agrees to do a favor for a (white) friend of his who is also a federal agent to (unofficially) and drive up Highway 59 from the Big City to take a look at the appearance of a Black male body that has recently washed up in Lark, a backwater town in East Texas, population 187. Matthews soon finds out the deceased is Michael Wright, a lawyer from Chicago but. The situation becomes even more complicated than it first appeared when soon after the first body appeared, a second body shows up, and this time it’s a white girl, a local waitress named Missy Dale known for her predilection for spending time in the company of Black men. Surely the two must be related, and there’s no way that the linked deaths of a Black man and white woman won’t be a dangerous powder keg in a hick town like Lark which is known for its long history with the Klan. Are the deaths some kind of hate crime? But the conceit of the book is that the bodies showed up in reverse order. Wouldn't you think it would be the white girl who would be killed first, and then the Black guy she cavorted with killed by the Klan afterwards?

Soon after Matthews arrives in Lark, so does the widow of the Black man, her name is Randie and she’s trying to find out what happened to her estranged husband. The parallels with Matthews and his personal situation are obvious. The relationship between Randie and Darren is complicated. She’s not from “around here” (and Matthews is) so he takes it on himself to show her around and promises himself to try and see she gets justice by solving the mystery of her husband's killing. But, as a knight in shining armor, Darren is more than a little tarnished. He’s got a drinking problem and he’s a little too fond of telling little white lies to people in order to get his way. As a Black Ranger with a badge in a town full of meth-heads, rednecks and extreme poverty he’s got a lot going against him in order to fulfill the ill-advised promise he made to the grieving widow.

The story in Bluebird, Bluebird is interesting because of the complex connections the author, Attica Locke, weaves between the characters (and suspects) in this little town where everyone knows everyone, and secrets have and stories have festered for decades. Both bodies  washed up within walking distance of a roadside hole-in-the-wall restaurant right off Highway 59 run by an elderly Black woman named Geneva Sweet who admits to seeing both Missy and Michael within several hours of their deaths. Geneva also has a complicated history. Her husband and son, both named Joe Sweet, are dead from violence within the last ten years, about 2 years apart. That's a lot of suspicious death in a town this small. Another important character is Wallace Jefferson III, an old white guy who literally owns all the land in town, lives a stone’s throw away from Geneva’s Sweets and clearly once (and maybe still) has had an impossible attraction to Geneva, who a long time ago used to be the hired help in the Jefferson Southern Gothic mansion.

Overall, Bluebird, Bluebird is an interesting, atmospheric novel which poses thoughtful and thought-provoking questions about race, family and the ties that bind people together, both emotional and obligatory. As a mystery novel it’s less successful and I’m not sure Darren Matthews is someone I really want to spend much more time with, but I am willing to spend more time with Locke’s spare, evocative prose and look forward to reading the next entry in the series Heaven, My Home.

Title: Bluebird, Bluebird.
Author: Attica Locke.
Format: Kindle.
Length: 320 pages.
Publisher: Mullholland Books.
Date Published: September 10, 2017.
Date Read: February 20, 2021.

GOODREADS RATING: ★★★★☆  (4.0/5.0).

OVERALL GRADE: A- (3.67/4.0).

PLOT: B+.
IMAGERY: A-.
IMPACT: A-.
WRITING: A.

GODLESS WEDNESDAY: Hateful San Antonio Mayor Loses Re-election

Today's Godless Wednesday is about bad things happening to people who attack godless people. Ivy Taylor was the mayor of San Antonio, Texas (which is the 7th most populous city in the United States) when she said that one cause of poverty is a failure to believe in God. This was pretty shocking, but happily Ms. Taylor received her comeuppance soon afterwards, when she lost her bid for re-election to Ron Nirenberg. The Friendly Atheist comments:

The mayor’s remarks about poverty reflect an astonishing and willful ignorance. Perhaps more important, there is something deliberately cruel and profoundly vicious in Taylor’s attempt to claim the root cause of poverty is people who don’t share her religious superstition, and that those individuals who do not share her religious superstition are somehow “broken people.”

 [...] 

Bottom line: Mayor Taylor is an intolerant conservative Christian with no respect for poor people or atheists. Her remarks indicate a callous and insensitive disregard for both. As such, she has no business serving as Mayor of San Antonio.

Hear, hear!

CELEBRITY FRIDAY: Bobby Brooks Is First Openly Gay Texas A&M Student President

Bobby Brooks is a 21-year-old junior at Texas A&M University at College Station, TX majoring in Economics and French. He is also the first openly gay person to be elected student body president at the conservative campus (it was formerly an all-white and all-male school for over a century). His election is controversial, not only because of his sexuality, but because the person who actually received the most votes, Robert McIntosh,who also happens to be the son of a prominent Republican fundraiser,  was disqualified by the student election board. McIntosh has hired a lawyer and intends to appeal the result. Somehow Energy Secretary (and former Governor of Texas) felt the need to comment that Brooks stole the election from McIntosh because "diversity."

Anyway, Bobby Brooks is today's subject of Celebrity Friday! I will leave you with this quote from Brooks:

"I believe in every human’s capability to change the world and I decided it was my time to try that."

BOOK REVIEW: 11/22/63 by Stephen King

I'm excited that I have finally finished my first Stephen King book (speed reading my sister's copy of Carrie when we were both teenagers doesn't count).

Anyway, I'm not a big fan of horror so I have generally stayed away from Mr. King's work previously.

However the premise of 11/22/63 fascinated me (someone goes back in time to try and stop the John F. Kennedy assassination) and even though I was a bit daunted by the size of the book I put it on my amazon wish list around Christmas time and was happy when it arrived.

11/22/63 is about a lot more than just time travel, but as a time travel novel it succeeds quite extraordinarily.

But 11/22/63 also succeeds as a love story, a thriller and as social commentary (about the 1950s and 1960s in America). I appreciated the fact that the protagonist gets sent back to 1958 and although there is a lot he likes, he also notices that for people who are not cis heterosexual white males like him, life in the 1950s was not so great (racism, antisemitism, homophobia, antediluvian attitudes about contraception and sexual activity are all brought up during the course of the novel). Maybe since a lot of the story takes place as the main character works as a teacher and I'm a teacher it strongly appealed to me, but I don't think so. I think this book has a pretty universal appeal.

It's definitely a bit slower than it needs to be but it also succeeds on its own terms and it totally deserves its excellent ratings by oodles and oodles of people on Goodreads. If someone understands the ending could they please explain it to me, especially the stuff about the various (Yellow, Red, Green and Ochre) card-carrying guys at the time portal. Even without that, I am glad that I read the book. I'm aware that Hulu has made a series based on the book starring James Franco but I don't feel like I need to see another version of the book.

This was the first Stephen King book I had read but is certainly not be my last! I don't think I'm going to run out and read The Dark Tower stuff (which is supposed to be a tale of epic fantasy). I have already read the Bill Hodges trilogy (Mr. Mercedes, Finders Keepers and End of Watch), which I enjoyed tremendously since it is in the mystery-thriller genre. I look forward to reading books by Mr. King in some of my other favorite genres.

Title: 11/22/63.
Author: Stephen King.
Paperback: 880 pages.
Publisher: Gallery Books.
Date Published: July 24, 2012.
Date Read: July 2, 2015.

GOODREADS RATING: **** (4.5/5.0).

OVERALL GRADE: A- (3.67/4.0).

PLOT: A-.
IMAGERY: B+.
IMPACT: A-.
WRITING: A

SATURDAY POLITICS: Texas Sup Ct Tells Houston "Repeal Equal Rights Measure Or Place On Ballot"

The Texas Supreme Court issued a ruling yesterday handing opponents of Houston's Equal Rights ordinance (HERO) a victory when it said that the City Council must decide by August 24th to either repeal the measure or place it before voters for a vote on the November 2015 municipal ballot. The Houston City Council enacted HERO last summer with openly lesbian Mayor Annise Parker's strong support. This is a shocking ruling because earlier the religious extremists who opposed HERO had turned in double the number of signatures needed to pace the measure on the ballot but more than half of those petitions were deemed invalid by the City Attorney. However the City Secretary had certified that there were enough signatures and it is this certification that the Texas Supreme Court has said must be obeyed. The court suspended the non-discrimination ordinance, and gave the city counvil 30 days to decide to repeal the ordinance or place it before voters.

In response to the Republican-dominated state high court ruling, Mayor Parker issued a statement which said:

"Obviously, I am disappointed and believe the court is in error with this eleventh hour ruling in a case that had already been decided by a judge and jury of citizens. Nonetheless, we will proceed with the steps necessary for City Council to consider the issue. At the same time, we are consulting with our outside counsel on any possible available legal actions. Houston’s Equal Rights Ordinance is similar to measures passed by every other major city in the country and by most local corporations. No matter the color of your skin, your age, gender, physical limitations, or sexual orientation, every Houstonian deserves the right to be treated equally. To do otherwise, hurts Houston’s well-known image as a city that is tolerant, accepting, inclusive and embracing of its diversity. Our citizens fully support and understand this and I have never been afraid to take it to the voters. We will win!"

Of course t's always a bad idea to be forced to vote on the civil rights of other people but if that's what the haters want, we will be ready!

Happy Juneteenth! Today is the 150th Anniversary of June 19, 1865

The official flag of Juneteenth

June 19th or Juneteenth as it is more commonly known, is the day the African-American community celebrates freedom, in commemoration of the day in 1865 when slaves in Galveston, Texas finally got the word about the end of the civil war and that they were emancipated. (Too bad they didn't have the Internet back then, because this was more than 30 months, two-and-a-half years, after President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation went into effect on January 1, 1863.)

Today is the sesquicentennial (150th) anniversary of Juneteenth. Of course, the Wall Street Journal decided today was the perfect day to publish an editorial declaring that institutional racism no longer exists in America:

Amid the horror of Charleston, it is also important to note that the U.S., notably the South, has moved forward to replace the system that enabled racist killings like those in the Birmingham church. 

Back then and before, the institutions of government—police, courts, organized segregation—often worked to protect perpetrators of racially motivated violence, rather than their victims. 

The universal condemnation of the murders at the Emanuel AME Church and Dylann Roof’s quick capture by the combined efforts of local, state and federal police is a world away from what President Obama recalled as “a dark part of our history.” Today the system and philosophy of institutionalized racism identified by Dr. King no longer exists. [emphasis added]

What causes young men such as Dylann Roof to erupt in homicidal rage, whatever their motivation, is a problem that defies explanation beyond the reality that evil still stalks humanity. It is no small solace that in committing such an act today, he stands alone.

And so it goes.

Texas Legislators Introduce Bill To Void Local LGBT Rights Ordinances

Here we go! Just as I predicted when I blogged about the Arkansas and West Virginia bills that are the new face of anti-LGBT animus in state legislatures, I said that many other red states would soon follow their homophobic lead. Today comes word that the biggest red state of them all, Texas, is planning on joining the rush to deny equal rights to LGBT citizens:

A Fort Bend County Republican has introduced a bill that would bar cities from adopting or enforcing non-discrimination ordinances that include protected classes not contained in state law. Texas law doesn’t include sexual orientation or gender identity and expression. 

As a result, state Rep. Rick Miller’s House Bill 1556 would undo LGBT protections passed by numerous cities, including Austin, Dallas, San Antonio, El Paso, Fort Worth, Houston and Plano. Altogether more than 7.5 million Texas are covered by such ordinances.

Will state legislators really override the local anti-discrimination ordinances that protect 7.5 million residents? We shall see....

Florida Becomes 3rd Most Populous State in the Union, North Carolina Becomes #9

The news this week was that Florida surpassed New York to take the #3 spot in the list of most populous states in the country. However, there was little mention that North Carolina skipped past Michigan to take the #9 spot and #8 Georgia joined the 10 million people club.

Here is the official data from the Census:

The 10 Most Populous States on July 1, 2014

Rank

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

State

California
Texas
Florida
New York
Illinois
Pennsylvania
Ohio
Georgia
North Carolina
Michigan

Population

38,802,500
26,956,958
19,893,297
19,746,227
12,880,580
12,787,209
11,594,163
10,097,343
9,943,964
9,909,877

EYE CANDY: Denzel Wells

Photo: Don Elmore

Denzel Wells is a Black male model and actor. According to Man Crush, he is currently appearing on Tyler Perry's show on OWN called If Loving You Is Wrong and he is on the Fall 2014 edition of America's Next Top Model. He has also been a crush on Essence magazine's website where they have even more pics of Denzel. According to Wikipedia, Denzel is 23 years old, 5-feet-10-and-a-half inches tall and comes from Houston, Texas.

Denzel has official Twitter and Instagram accounts and a Fan Page on Facebook, so check him out!

Saturday Politics: SCOTUS Allows Texas' Unabashedly Racist Voter Suppression Law To Go Into Effect

As I discussed last Saturday, the politics of who will vote is becoming increasingly salient as Election Day 2014 approaches. Today, the bad guys won a big one when the Supreme Court in a 6-3 vote (boys against girls) decided to allow Texas's new voter suppression identification law go into effect for the 2014 election while the federal courts consider the law on its merits, even though a federal judge has already declared that the 2011 law intentionally has a disparate impact on minorities.

A divided Supreme Court handed a big defeat to the Obama administration and numerous civil rights groups early Saturday morning when it ruled that Texas can enforce its 2011 voter ID law in November that some have called the strictest in the country. Three justices dissented from the ruling that rejected an emergency request that had been filed by the Justice Department and civil rights groups. 

The decision appears to mark “the first time since 1982 that the Court has allowed a law restricting voters’ rights to be enforced after a federal court had ruled it to be unconstitutional,” notes Scotus Blog’s Lyle Denniston. A federal judge had struck down the law last week, saying that some 600,000 voters—mostly black or Latino—would face difficulties at the polls due to a lack of proper identification. The law, which was approved in 2011 but only came in effect in 2013 lays out seven approved forms of identification—a list many have questioned for including concealed handgun licenses but not college IDs, notes the Associated Press. 

This marked the fourth time over the last few weeks that the Supreme Court has been forced to decide whether voter ID laws passed by Republican state legislatures can be used in November. The justices voted to allow changes in Ohio and North Carolina and stopped a new law in Wisconsin. 

An article in Slate magazine by Jamelle Bouie questions whether voter identification laws are based in partisanship or racism and comes out in favor of partisanship. Regardless, the effect and impact of the enactment of voter "identification" laws is negatively impact the voting power of racial minorities.

Saturday Politics: Voting Rights Becomes Salient Issue As Election Day Approaches

The fight to exercise the right to vote has become more salient as Election Day gets closer and closer. Republicans are generally trying to make voting more difficult while Democrats are trying to make sure that everyone can vote. Legislatures in red states where Republicans have full control have passed multiple measures reducing early voting days, enacting voter identification laws in the name of "reducing voter fraud."

In the past week there have been important court actions from federal judges (including the U.S. Supreme Court) involving voting rights in states like Wisconsin, Texas, North Carolina and Ohio.

Prominent Election Law expert Rick Hasen describes these actions in an article for Slate magazine:

As I explained in a recent Slate column, ultimately at issue in the Ohio, North Carolina, Wisconsin, and Texas cases is how broadly courts are going to intervene to protect voting rights in states where Republican legislatures have made it harder to register and to vote. All the cases raise claims under the U.S. Constitution’s equal protection clause and Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Ultimately, the Supreme Court could well side with the conservative judges in the courts below who have read these protections narrowly and not worried too much about the risk of voter disenfranchisement, rather than siding with the more liberal judges who have blocked restrictive laws for hurting minority voters, poor voters, and others. 

But none of these cases so far reached (or will reach) the Supreme Court as fully formed final cases. Instead, they have come up on emergency requests to block lower court orders that were put into effect just weeks before the election. The rulings have had election officials scrambling in Ohio, North Carolina, and Wisconsin to comply with new, and sometimes conflicting, court orders.

Meanwhile, in Illinois progressives have an opportunity to go on the offensive in the "War on Voting" this November when voters will decide whether to include a voting rights amendment to their state constitution.

The Illinois Right To Vote amendment reads:

No person shall be denied the right to register to vote or to cast a ballot in an election based on race, color, ethnicity, status as a member of a language minority, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or income.

It may come as a surprise but there is no official right to vote in the United States Constitution. It seems to me that getting such language in as many states as possible is a necessary (but not sufficient!) step to insure that our democracy remains functional.

EYE CANDY: David Lovelace

David Lovelace is an African-American male model from Houston, Texas. According to his Model Mayhem profile, he is 37 years old, 5-foot-11 and 190 pounds. He has a Facebook page where he is listed as a pro natural bodybuilder as David A Lovelace and another where he is listed as a model.

I think you can see why!

QUEER QUOTE: Obama: "Are You Gay?" Dude At Counter: "Only When I Have Sex." Fist Bump!

President Barack Obama was in Austin Texas last week when he went into the famous Franklin Barbecue for lunch and walked up to the counter. Then this happened:

As the president approached, [Daniel Rugg] Webb threw his hand down and slapped the counter dramatically. "Equal rights for gay people!""Are you gay?" the president asked."Only when I have sex.""That's when he laughed and said, 'Bump me,'" Webb says.

That's pretty cool. But what is not cool is that Webb could be fired for being openly gay at work in more than half the states in the Union, including Texas.

Hat/tip to Huffington Post

Houston City Council Passes LGBT Equal Rights Ordinance 11-6

Good news from the nation's fourth largest city, Houston, Texas! After a prolonged fight, the Houston City Council did the right thing, and passed HERO, the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance, which prohibits discrimination in housing and employment based on sexual orientation and gender identity, by a vote of 11-6. Houston's Mayor, Annise Parker, is openly gay and she signed the measure so that it goes into effect immediately. Parker is currently in her 3rd term as Mayor.

Houston was the only major city in America without a non-discrimination ordinance. Violators face fines between $500-$5000.

Hat/tip to Joe Jervis

MAP: Spread of Marriage Equality, 2000-2014

Here's a cool map showing the spread of marriage equality since 2000. In 2000, there was only one state that had significant statewide recognition of same-sex relationships; Vermont, with civil unions. In 2014, there are 17 states with full marriage equality and another 5 whose bans have been struck down by federal judges.

Hat/tip to Mother Jones

UPDATE: Father Of Murdered Black Lesbian Arrested

There is a shocking update in the story of the Black lesbian couple whose bodies were found dumped near a dumpster in Galveston County over the weekend. James Larry Cosby, the father of one of the victims, has been arrested in connection with the crime.

The Houston Chronicle reports:

James Larry Cosby, 46, of Houston, is charged with two counts of tampering with evidence in the deaths of his daughter, Britney Cosby, and Crystal Jackson, according to the Galveston County Sheriff's Office. Both women were 24. 

Deputies said Cosby is in the Galveston County jail in lieu of $500,000 bail. Charges against him, deputies added, may be upgraded to capital murder as the investigation continues.

Cosby was arrested early Thursday morning after investigators interviewed him about the case following a vigil in Houston for the slain women, said Galveston County Sheriff Henry Trochesset.

Tcochesset said statements Cosby made to investigators as well as evidence in the home where he lived with his daughter and his daughter's great-grandmother led to his arrest. He declined to elaborate about what Cosby said or what evidence was found because the case is still being investigated.

Kudos to the Galveston County Sheriffs for making an arrest so quickly in the case. This situation just seems to be getting more and more tragic.

Hat/tip to Joe Jervis

Houston Black Lesbian Couple Found Murdered; Police Sketch of Suspect Released

The LGBT blogosphere is buzzing with the sad news that an African-American lesbian couple have been found murdered in Galveston County, Texas. The two women, both 24, have been identified as Crystal Jackson and Britney Cosby. Cosby has a 5-year-old daughter and the two women had been living together and raising the child together.

Police have released a composite sketch of the person they think had been seen riding in the women's car, a 2006 Kia Sorento SUV.

Galveston County Sheriff's Office is asking for anyone with information to call 1-866-248-8477.

MAP: Current State of Marriage Equality In The States

Compiled by Andrew Turnbull, this handy graphic depicts the current state of marriage equality in the states. Look at all the ticking clocks, reflecting pending legal challenges to state bans on marriage equality, as well as the places where the ban has been struck down but is in abeyance due to a stay (Texas, Virginia, Oklahoma and Utah) as well as the two states where out-of-states same-sex marriage is recognized but you can't get married in the state (Kentucky and Oregon).

The map looks good!

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