Texas’ first same-sex marriage took place Thursday morning as a probate judge allowed a couple to marry for health reasons.
Just days after Travis County Probate Judge Guy Hermann ruled Texas’ ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional, Sarah Goodfriend and Suzanne Bryant were granted a one-time court order to expedite their marriage due to Goodfriend’s poor health, the Austin American-Statesman reported. Goodfriend has been diagnosed with and treated for ovarian cancer.
A rabbi married the couple, who have been together for almost 31 years, while their two daughters served as witnesses.
Their marriage is a one-time affair for the state of Texas — at least for now. Hours after the ceremony, the Texas Supreme Court issued an emergency order blocking other gay couples from obtaining marriage licenses. According to the L.A. Times, Attorney General Ken Paxton said the court’s order should make the license void.
Mary Penrose, professor of Law at the Texas A&M School of Law, said the marriage further complicates the marriage landscape in Texas. Penrose said the Tuesday ruling is an unusual case and that probate judges do not usually make such calls.
“It is rather remarkable, legally speaking, that a state probate judge would issue a ruling on the constitutionality of same-sex marriage,” Penrose said. “But there are occasions where a probate issue requires the resolution of issues that are tangential to will and estate contests.”
Penrose noted the filing made by Paxton was made quickly as a cautionary move, since the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans is reviewing the Texas ban on same-sex marriages.
“And the United States Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments in an unrelated case addressing the constitutionality of denying state marriage licenses to same-sex couples, [so] the Texas attorney general has filed an emergency request with the Texas Supreme Court seeking to block Judge Herman’s order,” Penrose said.
In February 2014, a federal judge overturned Texas’ ban on same-sex marriage, but he held his ruling pending appeals, so it has not gone into effect.
Same-sex marriage is legal in 36 states and the District of Columbia.