Constitutional Amendment Proposed To Abolish Defense Of Marriage Amendment

State Rep. Garnet Coleman (D-Houston) has introduced legislation to provide for a constitutional amendment which would repeal the “defense of marriage” language in the Texas Constitition.

The bill, HJR 131 would repeal Article 1, Section 32 of the state constitution, which was added to the constitution after an amendment election in 2005.

Coleman’s bill–if passed by the Legislature and voters–would allow Texas to recognize civil unions and domestic partnerships, including civil unions entered into in other states.

The bill would void both the Constitutional Amendment passed by the Texas Legislature and voters in 2005 as well as Senate Bill 7, the Defense of Marriage Act, which was passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor in 2003.

Coleman’s proposed amendment could become a particularly significant issue this session because of the number of states and localities in the U.S. which have begun to allow civil unions, domestic partnership agreements, and gay marriage since the passage of the DOMA in 2003.

As a result of the actions of other states, Texas Courts could be placed in a very uncomfortable position if they are asked to pass judgment over prenuptial agreements, wills, powers of attorney or similar agreements which are dependent upon a civil union recognized under the laws of another state.

In theory, however, there should be no such difficulty; the Full Faith and Credit Clause of Article IV of the U.S. Constitution should, in theory, protect people who move to or live in Texas with civil unions or domestic partnerships recognized in other states. However, Texas judges could easily interpret, as have judges in other states, that the Full Faith and Credit Clause doesn’t apply to civil unions performed in other states because those institutions violate the Texas law created under SB 7 as well as the Constitutional Amendment passed in 2005.

Needless to say, you can expect Republicans and the Christian Right to have a field day with this amendment in spite of the fact that it does not actually appear to legalize the performance of gay marriages or civil unions in Texas, which would require a separate legislative change to the Texas Family Code.

Tweet This Post   Ping This Post

Bookmark It