Texas Supreme Court: No inherent right to gay marriage benefits

“The Texas Supreme Court’s decision this morning is a warning shot to all LGBTQ Americans that the war on marriage equality is ever-evolving, and anti-LGBTQ activists will do anything possible to discriminate against our families,” said Sarah Kate Ellis, president and the advocacy group GLAAD.

via Austin Statesman

Finding no established right to spousal benefits in same-sex marriages, a unanimous Texas Supreme Court revived a lawsuit challenging the city of Houston’s insurance plans for married gay employees.

The 2015 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that established the right to same-sex marriage did not decide all marriage-related matters, leaving room for state courts to explore the decision’s “reach and ramifications,” the all-Republican Texas court said.

Supporters of marriage equality have vowed to appeal such a ruling to the federal courts, arguing that the U.S. Supreme Court clearly stated that all marriages must be treated equally.

Equality Texas, a gay-rights advocacy group, said the decision “clings to unconstitutional notions of ‘separate but equal’” and undermines the U.S. Supreme Court’s requirement that same-sex marriages be treated equally.