A Texas candidate for attorney general
says a clause in the state's gay marriage ban forbids all marriages,
the Star-Telegram reported.
Houston attorney Barbara Ann Radnofsky
says the gay marriage amendment bans all marriages in the Lone Star
state.
“You do not have to have a fancy law
degree to read this and understand what it plainly says,”
Radnosfsky told the paper referring to Subsection B, which says:
“This state or a political subdivision of this state may not create
or recognize any legal status identical or similar to marriage.”
The amendment defines marriage as “the union of one man and one
woman.”
The amendment was approved by the Texas
Legislature before being put up for a vote in 2005. Voters
overwhelmingly approved the measure.
Radnosfsky, a Democrat, says the
wording of Subsection B effectively “eliminates marriage in Texas,”
including common-law marriages and blames the state's current
attorney general, Republican Greg Abbott, for approving the language
of the amendment.
Jerry Strickland, a spokesman for
Abbott, however, discounted her claims, saying, “The Texas
Constitution and the marriage statute are entirely constitutional.”
“This breeds unneeded arguments,
lawsuits and expense which could have been avoided by good
lawyering,” Radnofsky added. “Yes, I believe the clear language
of B bans all marriages, and this is indeed a huge mistake.”