Are same-sex married couples entitled to equal spousal benefits? Texas Supreme Court isn't sure
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The Texas Supreme Court has revived a lawsuit that challenges the city of Houston’s decision to extend benefits to same-sex couples.
In a decision on Friday (PDF), the state high court said the U.S Supreme Court did not specifically address the issue of taxpayer-funded benefits provided to married couples when it found a constitutional right to gay marriage in Obergefell v. Hodges.
The court sent the case back to the trial court to consider the issue, report the Austin American-Statesman and the Houston Chronicle. How Appealing links to additional news coverage.
The court ruled in a suit challenging the Houston’s decision to extend benefits to same-sex spouses.
“The Supreme Court held in Obergefell that the Constitution requires states to license and recognize same-sex marriages to the same extent that they license and recognize opposite-sex marriages, but it did not hold that states must provide the same publicly funded benefits to all married persons,” the Texas Supreme Court said in an opinion by Justice Jeff Boyd.
Sarah Kate Ellis, president of the advocacy group GLAAD, was among the gay-rights supporters who criticized the opinion.
“The Texas Supreme Court’s decision … 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,” Ellis said.
The case is Pidgeon v. Turner.
