Alabama Supreme Court chief justice Roy Moore headlined an anti-gay marriage rally at the Texas Capitol on Monday, where he claimed that U.S. courts had no right to redefine “what God proposed in Genesis.”

During the “Defense of Texas Marriage Amendment Rally,” which was organized by the Conservative Republicans of Texas, Moore compared the fight against same-sex marriage to the battle of the Alamo.

ADVERTISEMENT

“William Barret Travis from Conecuh County, Alabama, came to draw a line in the sand at the Alamo,” Moore remarked. “He took a stand in the face of an enemy that was far more numerous, but he knew that he had to make a statement for the people of Texas and that he would give his life.”

Moore said he hoped he didn’t have to lay down his own life in his battle against same-sex marriage.

“I hope I don’t give my life, but I’m going to tell you this is a very serious matter.”

“There’s today another threat not only in Texas and Alabama, but across our country where state and federal court judges have overruled constitutional amendments passed by the people of those states, and people have just sat by and watched it out of fear of the federal government,” he continued. “But nothing in the Constitution of the United States, nothing in the laws or precedence of the federal courts give federal courts any authority over domestic policy of family and marriage in the state of Texas, in the state of Alabama, or anywhere else.”

Moore complained that more than 30 states had caved to “federal tyranny” by allowing same-sex couples to marry.

ADVERTISEMENT

In February, Moore ordered Alabama’s state probate judges to adhere to existing state laws and refuse marriage licenses to same-sex couples despite a federal court ruling. He claimed that probate judges were not bound by the federal judge’s ruling, which held that Alabama’s same-sex marriage ban is unconstitutional.

“Today, no same-sex marriage licenses are issued in our state,” Moore said. “It’s clear not only in Alabama, but in Texas as well, that state courts have equal authority, and equal responsibility, to interpret federal questions.”

Moore, quoting a dictionary from 1828, claimed marriage “was instituted by God himself for the purpose of preventing the promiscuous intercourse of the sexes, for promoting domestic felicity, and for securing the maintenance and education of children.”

ADVERTISEMENT

The Texas Definition of Marriage Amendment, approved by voters in 2005, bans same-sex marriage and civil unions. About 250 people attended the rally supporting the amendment, according to the Associated Press. A number of attendees carried signs stating, “I support Biblical marriage.”

Watch video, uploaded to YouTube by Lone Star Q, below: