in brief: texas same-sex marriage ban found unconstitutional

An injunction has been issued in the American state of Texas to stop a law banning gay marriage from coming into effect.

The voter-driven ban has been deemed unconstitutional by US District judge Orlando Garcia, who wrote that its ‘state-imposed inequality can find no refuge in [the] United States Constitution’.

‘These Texas laws deny Plaintiffs access to the institution of marriage and its numerous rights, privileges, and responsibilities for the sole reason that Plaintiffs wish to be married to a person of the same sex,’ he said.

The ruling further disputed arguments by the proponents of the ban that ‘denying marriage to same-sex couples positively affects child-rearing’.

Instead, Garcia found that more protections and rights for children with gay parents would be made available where the parents were married rather than a de facto relationship.

The ban was challenged by two gay couples, one of which is looking to marry in Texas and the other are looking to have their union recognised by the state.

It is thought that the finding will be appealed by Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott to the US Supreme Court.

The outcome has been praised by the local Democrat Party as historic.

‘All Texans can celebrate that we are one step closer to justice and equality for all,’ party chairman Gilberto Hinojosa said.

Bans hindering marriage equality have also been eliminated in the states of California, New Jersey, Utah, Oklahoma and Virginia, but as yet only 17 of the USA’s 52 states perform marriage ceremonies differing from heteronormative unions.