Tough Luck, Bigots

[Content Note: Homophobia.]

Two good pieces of news from yesterday afternoon:

1. US District Judge Orlando Garcia ruled Texas' same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional because it "deprives some citizens of due process and equal protection under the law by stigmatizing their relationships and treating them differently from opposite-sex couples."

Garcia cited recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings as having trumped Texas' moves to ban gay marriage.

"Today's court decision is not made in defiance of the great people of Texas or the Texas Legislature, but in compliance with the U.S. Constitution and Supreme Court precedent," he said in his order. "Without a rational relation to a legitimate governmental purpose, state-imposed inequality can find no refuge in our U.S. Constitution."

Nice!

The ruling does not, however, immediately legalize same-sex marriage in Texas. Garcia stayed same-sex marriage from taking effect until his ruling can be appealed, which Republican State Attorney General (and gubernatorial candidate) Greg Abbott has said the state will do. Because of course they will.

The dominoes, they are falling.

2. Republican Arizona Governor Jan Brewer vetoed SB 1062, the legislation which "would have allowed businesses that asserted their religious beliefs the right to deny service to gay and lesbian customers." In her statement (pdf) about the veto, she wrote:

Senate Bill 1062 does not address a specific and present concern related to religious liberty in Arizona. I have not heard of one example in Arizona where a business owner's religious liberty has been violated.

The bill is broadly worded and could result in unintended and negative consequences.

After weighing all of the arguments, I vetoed Senate Bill 1062 moments ago.

To the supporters of the legislation, I want you to know that I understand that long-held norms about marriage and family are being challenged as never before.

Our society is undergoing many dramatic changes. However, I sincerely believe that Senate Bill 1062 has the potential to create more problems than it purports to solve.

It could divide Arizona in ways we cannot even imagine and no one would ever want.

Religious liberty is a core American and Arizona value, so is non-discrimination.

I mean, that's still a lot of pandering to the delicate fee-fees of homophobic jerkos who are not so much principled as they are insecure about their super-special relationships losing the shimmering, golden glow that only denying equality to same-sex couples conveys upon their gloriously gilded unions, but it's also pretty remarkable (depressingly) to see a Republican say straightforwardly there isn't even any evidence of the alleged discrimination used to justify bigoted legislation.

The dominoes, they are falling.