Texas' gay marriage ban was approved by voters in 2005 and passed at with 76 percent of the vote at the time. "The issue before this court is whether Texas' current definition of marriage is permissible under the United States Constitution," Garcia wrote in his 48-page decision. "After careful consideration, and applying the laws as it must, the Court holds that Texas' prohibition on same-sex marriage conflicts with the United States Constitution's guarantees of equal protection and due process," Garcia wrote. "Texas' current marriage laws deny homosexual couples the right to marry, and in doing so, demean their dignity for no legitimate reason. Accordingly, the Court finds these laws are unconstitutional and hereby grants a preliminary injunction enjoining Defendants from enforcing Texas' bans on same-sex marriage."
Two gay couples were challenging it — a Texas couple who wanted to marry and a couple who married in Massachusetts and wanted it recognized by Texas. "What it really marks is one more voice — that of Judge Garcia's — joining the chorus that is arising around the country on same-sex marriage and marriage equality," Barry Chasnoff, a lawyer for the couples, told NBC News. "All our clients ever wanted was the right to be treated with respect and dignity and this judge says they should have it."
One of the couples, Mark Phariss and Vic Holmes, said in a statement: "We are extremely happy — happy beyond words — with Judge Garcia's decision. Having been together almost 17 years, we look forward to the day when we can get married and when all gay Texans enjoy equal rights to marry as well." Gay marriage is legal in 17 states and the District of Columbia, and nationwide public opinion polls consistently show a majority of people support it. Judges in Oklahoma and Virginia struck down gay-marriage bans in those states but left the bans in place pending appeal. The judge wrote that his decision was not "in defiance of the great people of Texas or the Texas Legislature, but in compliance with the United States Constitution and Supreme Court precedent."
The Supreme Court last year struck down the Defense of Marriage Act, the 1996 law that blocked federal recognition of gay marriage.