Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy
S. Moore headlined an Austin rally on Monday calling for “Biblical
marriage.”
Marriage equality opponents staged the
rally to show support for passage of the Preservation of Sovereignty
and Marriage Act, a Republican bill which seeks to prohibit county
clerks from issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples and
would require Texas courts to dismiss challenges to the state's ban
on gay marriage. The bill is scheduled for a hearing Wednesday.
Attending the rally were Lt. Governor
Dan Patrick and Attorney General Ken Paxton.
“No court has authority to redefine
what God proposed in Genesis,” Moore
told the crowd, adding that the Bible defines marriage as a
heterosexual union.
In comments to the
AP, Moore said that he was in the Texas Capitol to teach the law.
“I'm teaching that federal courts
have no authority in this area,” he said.
Moore injected himself into the
marriage debate in Alabama, ordering state probate judges – who
issue such licenses – to ignore a federal judge's ruling striking
down Alabama's ban.