Texas ban on same-sex marriage & segue way thoughts

Always nice waking up to good news. :) am not from Texas, but we have sisters and brothers there fighting out for our rights. Their success is our success too. As more states/countries legalize same-sex marriage, they are paving the way for us in this side of the world.

Conversation over lunch with a foreigner colleague/friend of his encounter with I think a European couple (if I remember it right) -- "the commitment to be together for many years already, even without legal contract, that is marriage."

What binds then together is not the legal benefits or contract but the commitment to be in this relationship.

That is admirable, and going back to the basic of why we are together as a couple to begin with.

However, let this not be confused with our right to marry if we decide to. That is basic human right which legions are fighting for in many parts of the globe.

Just some Thursday thoughts. Btw, I don't have personal laptop or computer. I only have ofc laptop which I don't bring home. So I blog via my phone only. It's not that easy, and limited features, that's why I don't blog regularly. The usual excuse in the menu is 'been busy. Which you've read/heard a gazillion time already. But that's the truth. My work for 1.5 yrs now is on an altogether different level of challenges which am surprised am able to cope up with still with fierce, rainbow colors. :) The things you do to survive and to give yourself & family a more comfortable life. Story of my life.

This also explains why I can't reply to comments. But I do read them. Lifts my heart :) so thank you :)

It's my bday soon. Hope to get a laptop as gift. Hehe. A girl is entitled to dream big! :)

Anyway, have to get moving. i just skipped my morning work out to blog. have to prep for work now. A girl has to work too you know :)

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By Bill Mears and Greg Botelho, CNN
updated 21:52 GMT 02.26.14

(CNN) - Texas on Wednesday became the latest state to have a federal judge strike down its ban on same-sex marriage, following a ruling that its current prohibition has no "rational relation to a legitimate government purpose."

The ruling, by San Antonio-based Judge Orlando Garcia, will not take effect immediately: It stays enforcement of his decision pending appeal, meaning same-sex couples in Texas for the time being cannot get married.

Still, gay rights supporters and activists believe the judgment -- because of what it says, how it follows similar rulings in other states and where it happened, in one of the most conservative states in the country -- has special significance.

Texas Democratic Party chairman Gilberto Hinojosa called Wednesday "a historic day for the LGBT community and the state of Texas," while the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force's head predicted the ruling "hastens the day when all loving couples who simply want the ability to share the benefits and responsibilities of marriage can."

"Everything is bigger in Texas and this ruling is an enormous leap forward for same-sex couples in the Lone Star State," said the latter group's executive director, Rea Carey. "Every time a judge strikes down a same-sex marriage ban, is yet another nail in the coffin of discrimination."

Those on the other side of the debate, meanwhile, are promising to keep fighting.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said his office would challenge the ruling, which would be heard by a federal appeals court in New Orleans. The Republican is running for governor, with early primary voting now in full swing and the full primary election set for March 4.

"The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled over and over again that states have the authority to define and regulate marriage," said Abbott. "The Texas Constitution defines marriage as between one man and one woman."

Gov. Rick Perry, who is not running for re-election, offered even more forceful remarks, insisting that the 10th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution "guarantees Texas voters the freedom" to decide on the parameters for marriage.

"Texans spoke loud and clear by overwhelmingly voting to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman ..., and it is not the role of the federal government to overturn the will of our citizens," said Perry, an outspoken conservative who ran for president in 2012. "... This is yet another attempt to achieve via the courts what couldn't be achieved at the ballot box."

In November 2005, Texas became the 19th state to adopt a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. Whether homosexual couples should be allowed to wed like heterosexual ones was a hot-button issue then and in subsequent years, with polls showing that most Americans favored restrictions.

But public opinion shifted over time. A CNN/ORC International survey last June found that a majority -- 55% -- of Americans back same-sex marriage, up 11 percentage points from 2008.

A total of 17 states now allow such legal unions, due to actions by voters, state courts or their legislatures. Federal courts have also helped move the needle on the issue, especially over the past year.

Source: http://cnn.it/1o6z5eZ