Will Gay Marriage Be Repealed? Texas Supreme Court Hears Case Challenging Benefits For Same-Sex Couples

Almost two years since the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, the Texas Supreme Court began hearing arguments Wednesday in a case state Republicans hope will eventually overturn the landmark 2015 decision.

Led by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, together with a host of other elected officials and church leaders, they are challenging Houston’s policy offering same-sex spousal benefits to municipal employees. In the opening oral arguments, the plaintiffs said that the 2015 ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges did not address the rights of same-sex couples to receive employment benefits.

"There is no fundamental rights to same-sex benefits under Obergefell,” said Jonathan Saenz, president of Texas Values, a conservative religious liberty advocacy group, after the hearing.

The 2015 ruling concluded that the United States Constitution grants same-sex couples “equal dignity in the years of the law.” And supporters of the city’s benefits policy have argued that the meaning of that ruling is clear.

“What we’re saying is that if you extend spousal benefits to opposite sex couples then under Obergefell you also have to extend it to same sex,” Douglas Alexander, the lawyer defending the city told the court, according to The Texas Tribune. “Not because there’s a fundamental right to employment benefits or spousal benefits but because there’s a fundamental right that both of those marriages be treated equally.”

Jonathan Mitchell, a former solicitor general for the state who is now representing the opponents of Houston’s policy argued that benefits did not constitute a fundamental right.

“I believe there are benefits associated with marriage that do qualify as fundamental rights ... some of these incidents of marriage are deeply rooted in tradition, such as for example the right to adopt children or perhaps even the right have one’s name listed on the death certificate of one’s spouse,” he said.

The Texas Supreme Court last year refused to hear the case after Houston was sued. However, it reversed itself in January, following urgings from Abbott and others. A decision on the case is not expected until June.

Republicans have been given fresh hope in turning back the tide in the battle over same-sex marriage following the election victory of President Donald Trump. The Republican has nominated conservative Neil Gorsuch to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court, although if he is confirmed the court will return to its balance when the same-sex marriage ruling was made, before the death of Justice Antonin Scalia last February.