Segacs's World I Know

Posts Tagged ‘texas’

Oh, the irony:

Texas’ gay marriage ban may have banned all marriages

Barbara Ann Radnofsky, a Houston lawyer and Democratic candidate for attorney general, says that a 22-word clause in a 2005 constitutional amendment designed to ban gay marriages erroneously endangers the legal status of all marriages in the state.

The amendment, approved by the Legislature and overwhelmingly ratified by voters, declares that “marriage in this state shall consist only of the union of one man and one woman.” But the troublemaking phrase, as Radnofsky sees it, is Subsection B, which declares:

“This state or a political subdivision of this state may not create or recognize any legal status identical or similar to marriage.”

Architects of the amendment included the clause to ban same-sex civil unions and domestic partnerships. But Radnofsky, who was a member of the powerhouse Vinson & Elkins law firm in Houston for 27 years until retiring in 2006, says the wording of Subsection B effectively “eliminates marriage in Texas,” including common-law marriages.

There’s some sort of metaphor here about how bigots who live in glass houses shouldn’t try to circumvent people’s rights or something. Rather than try to find the words for it, I think I’ll just have a good laugh.

And you thought the Governator was bad? Texas’s race is shaping up to be a real battle of the nicknames:

Writer and musician Kinky Friedman, who once sang “They Ain’t Making Jews Like Jesus Anymore,” may include the name by which he is best known on the ballot to choose Texas’ next governor in November, the state’s top election official said on Monday.

Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams said Friedman’s nickname was not a slogan and thus did not violate state law. His name will appear on election ballots as Richard “Kinky” Friedman.

But Williams, a Republican, said Carole Keeton Strayhorn, who is also running as an independent against incumbent Republican Gov. Rick Perry, cannot include “Grandma” as a nickname on the ballot.

Strayhorn’s campaign advertising calls her “One Tough Grandma.”

Well, say what you will, but Kinky is certainly no Dubya:

“I support gay marriage,” Friedman said in 2005. “I believe they have a right to be as miserable as the rest of us.”

Let’s hear it for equality!

A Hamas leader has been arrested in Texas, as well as members of his family and five employees of a computer company.

“We will follow the money of terror,” Attorney General John Ashcroft said at a news conference. “And we will pursue the financiers of terror as aggressively as we pursue the thugs who do their dirty work.”

This is kind of like charging Al Capone with tax evasion instead of murder . . . but I suppose any charge is better than none.