Texas ban on gay marriage ruled unconstitutional Judge says law demeans same-sex couples but delays order until appeals can be heard

Gay couples from left, Cleopatra De Leon, Nicole Dimetman, Mark Phariss and Victor Holmes, react at a press conference after U.S. Federal Judge Orlando Garcia granted a preliminary injunction after they sued the state of Texas couples to strike down the gay marriage ban, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2014. less Gay couples from left, Cleopatra De Leon, Nicole Dimetman, Mark Phariss and Victor Holmes, react at a press conference after U.S. Federal Judge Orlando Garcia granted a preliminary injunction after they sued ... more Photo: Jerry Lara, San Antonio Express-News Photo: Jerry Lara, San Antonio Express-News Image 1 of / 119 Caption Close Texas ban on gay marriage ruled unconstitutional 1 / 119 Back to Gallery

A Texas federal judge handed gay rights advocates another major victory on Wednesday, this time in one of the nation's largest and most conservative states, when he declared its prohibition of same-sex marriage unconstitutional.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia of San Antonio follows similar rulings in at least four other states and paves the way for a ruling by the nation's high court on the polarizing issue.

"Texas' current marriage laws deny homosexual couples the right to marry, and in doing so, demean their dignity for no legitimate reason," Garcia wrote.

The judge prohibited the state from enforcing its 2003 law against same-sex unions and the 2005 state constitutional amendment defining marriage as being between a man and a woman.

But he stayed that order until expected appeals against his ruling have been heard by higher courts.

Constitutional scholar Josh Blackman said Wednesday's ruling would likely join the torrent of other recent court decisions about same-sex marriage.

"The Supreme Court will have to resolve this," said Blackman, a professor at Houston's South Texas College of Law. "They'll have the one from Utah, the one from Virginia, Texas, there's a bunch of them. They'll take them all at once."

The Texas lawsuit, filed by a lesbian couple from Austin who married in Boston in 2009 and wanted it to be recognized in Texas, and two gay men from Plano who want to marry, is one of three such active lawsuits in the state.

Conflicting laws

Last year the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the federal government cannot refuse to recognize valid same-sex marriages in states where they are permitted.

Now, Garcia said in his ruling, lower courts must decide "whether a state can do what the federal government cannot - discriminate against same-sex couples."

"After careful consideration, and applying the law as it must, this court holds that Texas' prohibition on same-sex marriage conflicts with the United States Constitution's guarantees of equal protection and due process," Garcia wrote.

The state's laws, he added, deny same-sex couples the same rights to marriage enjoyed by other citizens simply because they wish to be married to someone of the same sex.

"Today's court decision is not made in defiance of the great people of Texas or the Texas Legislature," Garcia wrote, "but in compliance with the United States Constitution and Supreme Court precedent.

"Without a rational relation to a legitimate governmental purpose, state-imposed inequality can find no refuge in our United States Constitution."

Blackman said politicians in Texas will likely try to get an expedited hearing in front of the appeals court at the next level, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.

Even if the conservative 5th Circuit overturns the ruling, the decision will ultimately be decided by the nine Supreme Court justices in Washington, Blackman said.

Candidates differ

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, the putative Republican candidate in this year's gubernatorial election, said the state would appeal Garcia's ruling.

"The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled over and over again that states have the authority to define and regulate marriage," Abbott said. "The Texas Constitution defines marriage as between one man and one woman. If the Fifth Circuit honors those precedents, then today's decision should be overturned and the Texas Constitution will be upheld."

State Sen. Wendy Davis, the likely Democratic candidate for governor, issued a brief statement in support of the judge's decision.

"I believe that all Texans who love one another and are committed to spending their lives together should be allowed to marry," she said.

Gov. Rick Perry said the ruling was yet another attempt by the federal government to tell Texans how to live their lives.

"Texans spoke loud and clear by overwhelmingly voting to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman in our constitution, and it is not the role of the federal government to overturn the will of our citizens," he said. "We will continue to fight for the rights of Texans to self-determine the laws of our state."

Two of the plaintiffs in the Texas case, Cleopatra De Leon and Nicole Dimetman, met in 2001 and were married in Boston in September 2009.

De Leon is the biological mother of their only child, but because of Texas law, Dimetman could not be considered the child's legal parent without going through an expensive adoption process.

The other plaintiffs, Victor Holmes and Mark Pharriss, have been a couple in a committed relationship since 1997. Last October, they applied for a marriage license in Bexar County and were refused because they are men.

Garcia noted the "politically charged and controversial" national debate over same-sex marriages on both the federal and state level.

Most states, he said, have either legalized gay marriage or enacted laws and constitutional amendments prohibiting it.

Six states - California, Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New Mexico - have legalized same-sex marriage through court decisions; eight states - Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont - have done so through legislation; and three - Vermont, Maryland and Washington - have legalized it through popular vote.

Parker not surprised

Houston Mayor Anise Parker, who is gay and recently married her longtime partner at a ceremony in California, said she was not surprised by the ruling.

"I have known all along that this is where we are heading in my home state and across the country," she said. "It is one more step in a long quest for equal rights that will end at the Supreme Court."

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples, who authored the amendment to the state constitution that banned same-sex marriage when he was a state senator in 2005 issued a short, but to-the-point Tweet on the ruling:

"Having carried the constitutional amendment defining marriage between 1 man & 1 woman, I will change my definition of marriage when God does."