Same-sex marriage in Texas

rdf:langString Same-sex marriage in Texas

rdf:langString Same-sex marriage in Texas has been legal since the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges on June 26, 2015. Previously, the U.S. state of Texas had banned same-sex marriage both by statute and in its State Constitution. On February 26, 2014, Judge Orlando Luis Garcia of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas found that Texas's ban on same-sex marriages was unconstitutional. On April 22, 2014, a state court came to the same conclusion. Both cases were appealed. The district court's decision was appealed to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, but before that court could issue a ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down all same-sex marriage bans in the United States in Obergefell on June 26, 2015. Within a few months of the court ruling, all counties had started issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, except for Irion County, which announced in 2020 that it would begin issuing licenses to same-sex couples, making it the last county in the United States to comply. Despite opposition from high-profile politicians, including Governor Greg Abbott, Senator Ted Cruz, and Attorney General Ken Paxton, public opinion polls since voters adopted the constitutional amendment in 2005 have reported a trend in favor of the legal recognition of same-sex relationships, with a 2021 poll showing that 62% of Texans supported same-sex marriage.