State senator asks Justice Department to monitor gay marriage in Texas

[July 03, 2015]  By Jim Forsyth
 
 SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - A Texas Democratic state senator has asked the U.S. Department of Justice to keep an eye on same-sex marriage in the state after a Republican leader said county clerks could deny wedding licenses on religious grounds, the senator said on Thursday.

Senator Rodney Ellis sent the letter this week that said "officials who take an oath to uphold the Constitution should not be able to deny Texans' constitutional rights with the backing of state legal guidance."

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican and opponent of same-sex marriage, issued a statement over the weekend where he said the U.S. Supreme Court's decision allowing gay marriage was flawed.

"County clerks and their employees retain religious freedoms that may allow accommodation of their religious objections to issuing same-sex marriage licenses," he said.

Ellis said in an interview that "no government official should be able to hide behind religion."

Most of the 254 counties in Texas are issuing, or soon plan to issue, marriage licenses to same-sex couples but some county clerks said they are following Paxton's guidance and declining to issue licenses because they have religious objections.

Hood County Clerk Katie Lang said she will not issue the licenses to gay couples because it violates her Christian beliefs but she has instructed others in her office southwest of Fort Worth to issue them.

(Writing by Jon Herskovitz)

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