Hope for Texas marriage equality

S. David Ramirez, Staff Reporter • February 26, 2014

5:13-cv-00982 #73. This amalgamated alphabet soup may seem like just a blind mix, but for LGBTQIA advocates in Texas, this represents the newest hope to see gay marriage in the Lone Star state.

Today, a federal court ruled that the state’s constitutional definition of marriage—a union between one man and one woman—could possibly be illegal. For many, the qualifiers “could possibly” are not the legal language that we’ve hoped for, but it certainly is a move in the right direction.

Windsor v. U.S., last year, expanded federal benefits to all married gay couples regardless of where they currently reside. Since then, governmental organizations have tried to figure out the best way to comply with these new expectations.

Texas has been a Red State for as long as I’ve been alive. The idea of having the freedom of marriage equality seemed like a pipe dream before now. Thought it will be months before 5th Circuit Court of Appeals gets to hear this challenge, it is a chance that we didn’t expect to see.

Texas is just one of a handful of GOP-led states that have challenged constitutional definitions of marriage in federal court. These conservative states have protected the discriminatory language as the decision of the people. The reality is, it is not the majority that needs to be protected. It is the minorities that have to have legislation to ensure that their unalienable rights are not trampled upon.

The ruling today has been stayed until it is reviewed by the next level of appeals. Most likely, it will make its way to the Supreme Court before anything is resolved.

I expect many loud tirades from people on both sides of the fence. But I never expected that I would see it in this decade.

Now–just to find someone to get married to…

S. David Ramirez may be reached at [email protected].

About the Contributor

S. David Ramirez, Staff Reporter

S. David Ramirez is currently an English and American Literature major wrapping up his final year at UTEP. He has written for the Lakefront, the Thing Itself literary magazine, the Tejano Tribune and The Prospector. When not striving for journalistic excellence, he helps organize fandom conventions around the Lone Star State, including El Paso Wintercon and San Japan, San Antonio’s largest Japanese culture and anime convention. He hopes to spend his academic career educating the public about the dangers of Jane Austen and the medicinal benefits of reading the Brontë sisters. His research in popular culture studies has taken him across the nation and he hopes to continue presenting findings on music, media and literature at future conferences. David says his success is due to a pact with the dread Lord Cthlulhu of R’ley fame, but he may just be reading too much H. P. Lovecraft in his off time. He is currently applying to graduate schools for communication rhetoric or writing and rhetoric. If you, or someone you know, is on these admissions boards, please contact him directly.