Two couples in Texas sue to lift ban on gay marriage

A federal lawsuit was filed Monday challenging the state's ban on same-sex marriage, and it seeks a court order barring Texas officials from enforcing it.

“In Texas, Plaintiffs cannot legally marry their partner before family, friends, and society — a right enjoyed by citizens who wish to marry a person of the opposite sex. And should they become married in a state that has established marriage equality, Texas explicitly voids their marriage,” said the suit, filed in San Antonio by attorney Barry Chasnoff of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. “There is no rational basis, much less a compelling government purpose, for Texas to deny plaintiffs the same right to marry enjoyed by the majority of society.”

The suit names as plaintiffs two same-sex couples, Mark Pharris and Vic Holmes and Cleopatra De Leon and Nicole Dimetman, but makes it clear the litigation is pursuing rights for a larger group of people in similar situations.

The suit claims provisions of the Texas constitution and other state laws barring same-sex marriage violate protections of the U.S. constitution, such as the right to equal protection under the law.

A spokeswoman for Gov. Rick Perry said the governor supports Texans who have decided they do not accept same-sex marriage.

“The governor agrees with the majority of Texans, who voted to define marriage in the Texas Constitution as between one man and one woman,” spokeswoman Lucy Nashed said via e-mail.

No hearing to take up the suit's request for an injunction, or court order, had been set as of Monday.

Read more about the lawsuit and the couples at ExpressNews.com

gcontreras@express-news.net