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].