Dean Willis, 10 years ago

Texas marriage laws are an artifact of failing to separate Church and State.

Marriage, as an article of faith, should be defined entirely within the faith in which that marriage is observed. No church has the right to dictate the marriage rules of another church. If your faith demands that marriage be between one man and one woman, then do it that way. But you have no right to dictate another’s faith. This is fundamental to the freedom of religion enshrined in the 1st Amendment to the US constitution.

Such freedom is also enshrined in the Texas constitution, specifically sections 3a and 6

Sec. 3a. EQUALITY UNDER THE LAW. Equality under the law shall not be denied or abridged because of sex, race, color, creed, or national origin. This amendment is self-operative.

Sec. 6. FREEDOM OF WORSHIP. All men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences. No man shall be compelled to attend, erect or support any place of worship, or to maintain any ministry against his consent. No human authority ought, in any case whatever, to control or interfere with the rights of conscience in matters of religion, and no preference shall ever be given by law to any religious society or mode of worship. But it shall be the duty of the Legislature to pass such laws as may be necessary to protect equally every religious denomination in the peaceable enjoyment of its own mode of public worship.

Marriage as an artifact of law is about the distribution of assets and rights within a domestic partnership. We have a large body of law relating to the formation of business division of assets and right, including sole proprietorships, partnerships, limited liability companies, and corporations. We have no legal reason to restrict partnership law such that it applies domestically only to heterosexual pairings.

While Texas voters inarguably adopted such a law, that law is illegal insofar as it fundamentally conflicts with 3a and 6 of the Texas constitution. No amount of Bible misreading can justify this conflict. Rather, we have adopted a law that mandates a particular faith-view, in violation of all that we hold holy about the relationship of Church and State.