It’s possible that we were being naive. We thought the passing of Obgergerfell vs. Hodges had settled the issue; that even in states like Texas, litigators for same sex couples’ marriage rights had won. They went home, they turned out the lights. They shoveled their files into stacks of manila envelopes and stamped the words ‘Mission Accomplished’ across them in friendly red ink. And we celebrated, and then we waited.
Waited for the backlash.
We waited for the files to turn anemic with age, hoping that one day our descendants might rediscover them. Hoping that they would turn them over with wide-eyed reverence amazed at what barbarians we used to be and say the words.
“Never again.”
That was the plan, but you know what they say about the “best laid plans.”
Of Men And Men
It’s hard for the majority to empathize with what it must be like to be gay. I’m not talking about the visceral, squeamish, homophobia we used to feel when we saw man-on-man affection in the street. Most of us got over that shortly after the second season of Game of Thrones aired.
It’s the hatred, the raw unrelenting poison spat at the LGBT community by those who are so free with their naked aggression. It’s the desire by some — and let’s face it, it’s mostly Republicans — to do anything in their power to stem the tide, to keep back the flood waters that in their eyes are filthy with sin, sex, and bottles of scented lubricants.
They won’t win.
Trying Behavior
Not that they are going to let a little thing like the progressive direction of history stop them. In their eyes, this is a war that needs to be fought. They are the Spartans at Thermopylae, holding back the godless hordes of surprisingly well-dressed Persians.
This is how they see themselves. This is why they won’t let a little thing like a Supreme Court ruling stand in their way.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, his gormless protegé Dan Patrick, and the State’s uterus-obsessed Attorney General Ken Paxton, all Republicans, filed a brief on Thursday with the Texas Supreme Court. They urged the all Republican court to reconsider a Houston case challenging the city’s benefits policy for married same-sex couples.
The case in question Jack Pidgeon and Larry Hicks v. Mayor Sylvester Turner and City of Houston was filed by two Texan pastors back in 2013. They objected to the fact that Mayor Turner had violated the Texas Constitution by issuing same-sex benefits.
Last September in a 8-1 ruling, the court declined to take up the case. Abbot, unable to accept such a wantonly fair decision, begged them to reconsider. He was desperate for them to agree with his own position that:
“… the case that legalized same-sex marriage, Obergefell v. Hodges, does not bind state courts to resolve all other claims in favor of the right to same-sex marriage.”
Gay Dollars
In other words, the Governor would like to know if married same-sex couples had in fact only received some sort of second class marriage licence bereft of any economic perks. In his eyes, that would be the kind of victory that might help him sleep better at night.
It’s sad really. The Governor is in a difficult position.
The sanctity of marriage is one of those things that prevents the whole rotten structure of the GOP from collapsing in on itself. Marriage as an institution is at an all time low with around one in five Americans over the age of 25 never having tied the knot. Financial incentives for married couples is one of the few federal relief programs that Republicans don’t get frothy at the mouth over.
And it goes without saying that this is a really big deal. There’s no question that this is about the principle of the whole thing, at least in part. But it’s more than that. The benefits, which include estate and gift tax reductions, IRA rollovers,and health insurance deductions are not insignificant.
Principles are all well and good, but money is money.
That same-sex couples have just as much right to them as anyone else. That they have at long last been acknowledged as full and equal citizens. These are victories that are worth celebrating. These are the victories that are worth defending.
And in all of it, there is the usual silver lining.
It must make the Governor’s blood boil.
Watch Greg Abbot call for a constitutional amendments so he can overturn Supreme Court decisions he doesn’t like.
Featured Image: Screenshot Via YouTube Video.
