On tuesday a federal judge in Oklahoma ruled that the state's ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. Now an attorney representing one of three lawsuits filed in Texas challenging the state's ban on same-sex marriage is looking at a that ruling to show how the Texas case may render the same result.
San Antonio attorney Neel Lane has filed an injunction on the Texas law and his case will be heard on Feb. 12 by Federal District Judge Orlando Garcia.
Lane said the Oklahoma decision is important because the court rejected the state’s reasoning for a ban on same-sex marriages.
"The basic reason for all these restrictions on same-sex marriage in the State of Oklahoma was moral disapproval of gays and lesbians, and the court said that is not enough to support restrictions on same-sex marriages," Lane said.
Comparing the states’ reasoning for a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, Lane said Oklahoma and Texas mirror one another.
"The laws in the State of Texas are virtually identical to those in Oklahoma with respect to restricting same-sex marriage," Lane said. "And if the court in San Antonio agrees with the reasoning of the court in Oklahoma we will have an order enjoining the state from enforcing restrictions on same-sex marriages."
Lane said no court has ruled a ban on same-sex marriage to be constitutional since the U.S. Supreme Court threw out sections of the Defense of Marriage Act and ruled against an attempt to reverse California’s same-sex marriage laws.
Lane said there are only procedural differences between the Oklahoma and Texas cases, but the merits are very similar.
