All but 5 Republican members of the
Texas House have pledged to defend the state's ban on gay marriage.
On Thursday, a controversial bill which
sought to prohibit state or local governments from using public funds
to issue marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples died in the
Texas House as a midnight deadline arrived. The following day, House
Republicans released a letter signed by 93 out of 98 of its members
pledging to continue the fight.
(Related: Clock
runs out on Texas effort to ban officials from issuing marriage
licenses to gay couples.)
“Traditional marriage is the bedrock
institution of both our society and the success Texas has been
blessed to experience since our admission as the 28th
state within these United States of America,” the letter states.
“We, therefore, affirm the
preservation of the present definition of marriage as being the legal
union of one man and one woman as husband and wife, and pledge to
uphold and defend this principle that is so dearly held by Texans far
and wide,” the
letter concludes.