{"id":17034,"date":"2015-07-02T20:41:14","date_gmt":"2015-07-02T20:41:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=17034"},"modified":"2015-07-02T20:43:55","modified_gmt":"2015-07-02T20:43:55","slug":"scotus-gay-marriage-decision-called-lawless-ruling-by-texas-ag","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=17034","title":{"rendered":"SCOTUS Gay Marriage Decision called &#8220;lawless ruling&#8221; by Texas AG"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1 class=\"story-body__h1\">US gay marriage: Texas pushes back against ruling<\/h1>\n<div id=\"attachment_17036\" style=\"width: 634px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/83921161_f0527082-a2f7-487a-92be-d76524637ed2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-17036\" class=\"size-full wp-image-17036\" src=\"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/83921161_f0527082-a2f7-487a-92be-d76524637ed2.jpg\" alt=\"Mr Paxton says gay marriage should &quot;coexist&quot; with religious freedoms\" width=\"624\" height=\"351\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/83921161_f0527082-a2f7-487a-92be-d76524637ed2.jpg 624w, https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/83921161_f0527082-a2f7-487a-92be-d76524637ed2-300x169.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 624px) 100vw, 624px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-17036\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mr Paxton says gay marriage should &#8220;coexist&#8221; with religious freedoms<\/p><\/div>\n<p>BBC<\/p>\n<div class=\"story-body__inner\">\n<aside class=\"pullout mini-hyper\">\n<div class=\"pullout-inner\">\n<h2 class=\"heading\">Gay marriage ruling<\/h2>\n<ul class=\"related-items\">\n<li class=\"unit unit--regular\">\n<div class=\"unit__body\">\n<div class=\"unit__header\">\n<div class=\"unit__title\"><span class=\"cta\">Who came out against Facebook&#8217;s rainbow flags?<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"unit unit--regular\">\n<div class=\"unit__body\">\n<div class=\"unit__header\">\n<div class=\"unit__title\"><span class=\"cta\">Couple in 80s finally say \u2018I do\u2019<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"unit unit--regular\">\n<div class=\"unit__body\">\n<div class=\"unit__header\">\n<div class=\"unit__title\"><span class=\"cta\">US gay marriage: Reaction to ruling<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"unit unit--regular\">\n<div class=\"unit__body\">\n<div class=\"unit__header\">\n<div class=\"unit__title\"><span class=\"cta\">It&#8217;s a &#8216;judicial Putsch&#8217; warns Scalia<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p class=\"story-body__introduction\">Texas&#8217; top law officer has called the US Supreme Court decision legalising gay marriage in all 50 states a &#8220;lawless ruling&#8221; and vowed to support state workers who refuse to marry couples on religious grounds.<\/p>\n<p>The court ruled on Friday that marriage for all is a constitutional right.<\/p>\n<p>Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said clerks could be fined if they refuse to issue marriage licences.<\/p>\n<p>However, he said that his office would defend them in court free of charge.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the landmark ruling, opponents of gay marriage are preparing for more legal challenges. Many want to protect the interests of people with religious objections to the unions.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This newly minted federal constitutional right to same-sex marriage can and should peaceably coexist with longstanding constitutional and statutory rights, including the rights to free exercise of religion and freedom of speech,&#8221; Mr Paxton wrote in a memo to state employees.<\/p>\n<p>Many gay couples in Texas have already wed since Friday&#8217;s ruling. But couples in nearby Mississippi have been blocked from obtaining marriage licenses.<\/p>\n<p>Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood said gay marriage would not be legal in the state until the US 5th Circuit Court of Appeals gives the go-ahead. It is unclear when the court will act.<\/p>\n<p>In Louisiana, an official had said they found nothing in the ruling stating the marriages must be available immediately, but the state began issuing licenses on Monday.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We don&#8217;t have a choice,&#8221; Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal told NBC News on Sunday. &#8220;Our agencies will comply with the court order.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Mr Jindal, a Republican who is running for president, also sought to protect religious freedoms after the ruling.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think it is wrong for the federal government to force Christian individuals, businesses, pastors, churches to participate in wedding ceremonies that violate our sincerely held religious beliefs,&#8221; Mr Jindal said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We have to stand up and fight for religious liberty. That&#8217;s where this fight is going,&#8221; he added.<\/p>\n<p>Gay marriages in the US only apply to secular unions so churches and clergy are not legally required participate.<\/p>\n<p>However, some conservatives say florists, bakers and other businesspeople associated with weddings should not be legally required to serve gay customers if they have religious objections to same-sex marriages.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>US gay marriage: Texas pushes back against ruling BBC Gay marriage ruling Who came out against Facebook&#8217;s rainbow flags? Couple in 80s finally say \u2018I do\u2019 US gay marriage: Reaction to ruling It&#8217;s a &#8216;judicial Putsch&#8217; warns Scalia Texas&#8217; top &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=17034\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17034","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17034","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17034"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17034\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}