Tag: Ken Paxton

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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton Won’t Answer Direct Questions On SCOTUS/Same-Sex Marriage

When pressed by CNN host Alisyn Camerota regarding the upcoming ruling from the Supreme Court on marriage equality, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was not willing to say that the state would follow the Supreme Court if it decided to rule in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage later this year.

Camerota pushed further asking what Paxton suggests that gays and lesbians in love should do.

Here’s the exchange:

“They have — they can do whatever they want,” Paxton shrugged. “But the reality itself right now in Texas was defined by the people of Texas overwhelmingly as between a man and a woman. And that’s the law of Texas, it’s in our constitution, it’s in our statutes.”

“I mean, they can’t really do whatever they want as you’ve just said,” Camerota shot back. “Do you understand why gays in Texas would feel that is discriminating against them?”

“They can feel how they want,” Paxton replied. “The reality is the voters of Texas have passed the law as it is.”

Check how vague and uncomfortable it gets at the 3:45 mark when Camerota asks if Texas HAS to conform to federal law, meaning the Supreme Court ruling.

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Texas: Attorney General Seeks to “Void” Marriage License Of Lesbian Cancer Patient

Yesterday, Suzanne Bryant and Sarah Goodfriend became the first legally married same-sex couple in Texas. But now, Attorney General Ken Paxton is asking the state’s Supreme Court to declare the couple’s marriage “void.”

Via the Advocate:

“The rogue actions of Travis County judges do not withstand the scrutiny of law,” Paxton said in a statement. “The same-sex marriage license issued yesterday is not valid because it conflicts with the Texas Constitution and State law — the license is therefore void ab initio. The filing we made today with the Texas Supreme Court confirms these points.”

After a state-level judge in Travis County, which includes the state capital of Austin, found Texas’s ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional Wednesday, Bryant and Goodfriend asked another local judge to consider their emergency request for a marriage license to be issued to the mothers of two, citing Goodfriend’s ongoing battle with ovarian cancer.

Thursday morning, state District Judge David Wahlberg granted the couple’s request, and they were married immediately outside the Travis County courthouse. Wahlberg’s ruling directly ordered Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir to issue a marriage license to Goodfriend and Bryant only, not to other same-sex couples.

Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir disagrees with Paxton, saying the marriage license as issued is valid.

The couple has been together more than 30 years.

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Incoming Texas Attorney General Opposes LGBT Protections In Proposed Plano Ordinance

In an open letter, incoming Texas Attorney General-elect Ken Paxton has asks the Plano City Council to rethink their consideration of an LGBT protections ordinance up for discussion at tonight’s meeting.

From Paxton’s letter:

Honorable Mayor and City Council: As members of the Plano delegation to the Texas legislature and the Collin County Commissioners Court, we are appealing to you to postpone any vote relating to an ordinance to amend Section 2-11 relating to the adoption of a policy based on protected characteristics. We do not believe there has been adequate time for the public and community leaders to be a part of the discussion of such a major, wide sweeping change in law and policy for Plano. As husbands and wives with children, we have concerns that your sexual orientation and transgender ordinance may place women and children at risk and does not consider the moral or religious beliefs of Plano citizens or vendors who do business with the city.

Creating “special protections” for gays and “men in women’s bathrooms” are all included in Paxton’s worries and concerns over the proposed LGBT focused ordinance.
Of course, all the hand wringing in done in the name of “religious freedom.”

Stay tuned to see if tonight’s vote even takes place.