Same Sex Marriage and Texas

The past 24 hours have brought about a strange turn of events.

Yesterday a probate Judge found that the ban on same sex marriage in Texas was unconstitutional. In that case a woman who had been with her female partner for 8 years sought to have the Judge declare that they had a valid common law marriage so that she could inherit through the estate of her partner.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/17/texas-gay-marriage_n_6701426.html

Following that ruling a female couple went to the Travis County Clerk’s office to obtain a marriage license and were turned away saying they needed a court order before they could issue the license. The couple was not dissuaded and in fact got a Temporary Restraining Order ordering the clerk to issue the license. Further, the court waived the 72 hour waiting period to allow them to get married immediately after the license was issued. They became the first legally recognized same sex married couple in Texas.

http://m.statesman.com/news/news/breaking-news/travis-county-clerk-issues-first-same-sex-marriage/nkD63/

Then at the end of the day today the Texas Supreme Court issued a stay of both rulings as the Texas Attorney General stepped in.

http://www.txcourts.gov/supreme/news/supreme-court-issues-stay-order-to-halt-same-sex-marriage-rulings.aspx

For now, this means same sex marriage still does not exist in Texas. Keep checking back here for more updates.