The Texas gay couple who on Monday sued
a county clerk for refusing to issue them a marriage license received
their license just hours after filing their lawsuit.
Jim Cato and Joe Stapleton were
repeatedly refused a marriage license by Hood County Clerk Katie
Lang.
In a written statement, Lang said that
her religious faith compels her “to personally refrain from issuing
same-sex marriage licenses” but that other staffers will issue
marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples in accordance with the
recent Supreme Court ruling striking down state bans on gay marriage.
Lang's office, however, claimed it did
not have the appropriate forms to issue a marriage license to a gay
couple.
Cato and Stapleton said that their
lawsuit would continue until Lang's office agrees to issue marriage
licenses to “all couples, gay and straight, without delay.” The
men also want the county to pay their legal fees, Bloomberg
reported.
Issuance of a marriage license to a gay
couple just hours after the lawsuit was filed “proves that County
Clerk Lang easily could have complied with the law without waiting
for 10 days,” the couple's lawyer said.