Despite an emergency stay on same-sex marriage granted by the Texas Supreme Court, following the issuance of a marriage license to Sarah Goodfriend and Suzanne Bryant on Thursday, the University of Texas School of Law’s Alex Albright said the stay, requested by Attorney General Ken Paxton only addressed a temporary restraining order of Texas’ ban on gay marriage, not the marriage itself.
“I mean what happened with this couple is they got married when their marriage license was valid, it had not been stayed. So as I see it, they are married,” Albright said confidently.
In fact, Albright said the language in the stay was so vague that she said it might not stop other state county judges from issuing similar restraining orders of the the state's same-sex marriage law in the future. “The granting in part doesn’t does not stay all further trial court proceedings, so someone else could bring a request for a temporary restraining order.
“Of course,” she added, "I think it would be stayed immediately.”
Friday, Paxton filed another petition, asking the court to void Sarah Goodfriend and Suzanne Bryant’s marriage.
https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/files/filings/15-0139_Mandamus_FS.pdf
