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Texas out of marriage business

Submitted by Pyro on Fri, 11/20/2009 - 20:45
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It seems that in 2005 Texas amended its constitution and inadvertently took Texas out of the marriage business.

Texas' gay marriage ban may have banned all marriages
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/100/story/79112.html

Subsection B declares:

"This state or a political subdivision of this state may not create or recognize any legal status identical or similar to marriage."

The headline got it wrong (typical press). The amendment did not "ban" all marriages. It just took the state out of the business of recognizing marriages and giving them state legal status.

That seems to me to be a good thing (done by accident, of course). What right does the state of Texas have to regulate marriage? Marriage is none of the state's (or any government's) business and much mischief would be avoided if this (part of the) amendment were adopted nationally.

State officials have declared their intention to ignore this feature of their current constitution. It would be good if Texans insisted that their constitution be followed and their government butt out of the marriage business.

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