Same Sex Marriage: Still the Law of the Entire Land, But Then There's Texas!

 Christian and I are in the middle of preparing everything for our upcoming wedding in July 2022. We met with the wedding coordinator at the venue where the wedding is being held, and found that we are ahead of the curve in terms of preparation. This was not surprising to me, since Christian is especially on top of these things in planning. I tend to run a little later in preparations. In other words, I some times wait to do certain things at the last minute.

The only thing that I keep watching out for are the parts of this country who are threatening to challenge the Supreme Court of the US (SCOTUS) ruling, Obergefell v. Hodges, which made same sex marriage the "law of the land" in 2015. 

Herein lies the problem: this was a decision of SCOTUS, and not federal legislation. In other words, court cases can be "revisited," even if there is "precedent," in which case the decision is "settled law." 

On the website, advocate.com, reporter Alex Cooper reported on Oct. 23, 2021, that there is movement afoot in the Texas state legislature to stop same-sex weddings in the state of TX.

"Texas state Rep. James White, a Republican from District 19 in southeast Texas, has reportedly written to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton wanting clarification on the historic U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, which made marriage equality the law in the U.S."

In a tweet, the Lincoln Project wrote, “Marriage equality is the law of the land — except in Texas, argues the state GOP. Legislative leaders in TX issued an opinion stating legalized gay marriage shouldn’t be permitted in the Lone Star State because they feel state law trumps the SCOTUS ruling in Obergefell v Hodges.”

State Rep. Julie Johnson, a Texas Democrat representing District 115 and who is married to a woman, responded to the letter on Twitter. She wrote, “Now, [Texas Legislature] Republic colleagues don't think the love my wife and I have is good enough to make a lifetime commitment to each other.”

Johnson added: “Enough is enough! Cut the BS theatrics. You are embarrassing Texas.”

Here's a link to the article: https://www.advocate.com/news/2021/10/23/texas-state-rep-argues-anti-marriage-equality-law--valid-james-white

While I am not fearful that our wedding is going to be thwarted by an overturning of Obergefell v. Hodges, we also hear rumors that both Associate Justices Alito and Thomas would like to re-visit the case of same sex marriage in the US. It is just possible that TX would find a crafty way of stopping same sex marriage, just like they stopped abortion in the state of TX, which is now going to be argued at SCOTUS.

The one way to thwart this all, of course, is for the current US House of Representatives and US Senate to craft a law, protecting same sex marriage, which would then be signed by the current President. 

The time for information and getting a sense of where things "are" in this country is now. The time of preventive action is also now.

And once again, I find our churches and religious institutions strangely silent, along with some of our LGBTQIA+ religious identity groups affiliated with the major Christian denominations.

For the time being, we will continue to prepare for a wedding in July 2022.

But my eyes and ears are also aware of gathering storm clouds in TX.

Stay tuned for more, I'm sure.

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