Texas house to vote on striking down same sex marriage ban

[FaxModem1]

http://www.burntorangereport.com/diary/ ... rriage-ban

Reps. Rafael Anchia & Garnet Coleman File Bills to Repeal Texas Gay Marriage Ban

by: Karl-Thomas Musselman
Thu Feb 07, 2013 at 04:41 PM CST

Texas Gay Marriage Vote Results by CountyYesterday in the Texas House, Democratic Representatives Rafael Anchia and Garnet Coleman filed twin resolutions, HJR 77 and 78 which propose "a constitutional amendment to repeal the constitutional provision providing that marriage in this state consists only of the union of one man and one woman and prohibiting this state or a political subdivision of this state from creating or recognizing any legal status identical or similar to marriage."

If passed by a 2/3rds majority of both the House and Senate, it would put the question on the November 2013 constitutional amendment ballot to effectively repeal HJR 6 aka Prop 2 from the 2005 legislation session which passed by a 76-24 margin by Texas voters in the fall of 2005.

"In 2005, most Texans did not support any form of legal recognition for lesbian and gay couples. But, public opinion has changed greatly in the last eight years, both across the country and right here in Texas," said Representative Coleman, who has championed a repeal in multiple legislative sessions. "Two-thirds of Texas' voters now believe the state should allow some form of legal recognition for committed same-gender couples," Coleman said.

Texas Tribune Poll on feeling towards equal marriage rights for gay and lesbiansWhile a majority of Texans still oppose marriage equality, an October, 2012 University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll reported that 36 percent of Texas voters surveyed would support allowing lesbian & gay couples to marry, while another 33 percent would allow civil unions but not marriage. Only 25 percent of Texas voters said that same-gender couples should neither be allowed to marry nor enter into a civil union.

"Millions of Texans have had their own very personal evolution on this issue," said Chuck Smith, Executive Director at Equality Texas. "Texans now agree that all couples in loving and committed relationships deserve the opportunity to create stronger and more successful families. Because the Texas Constitution currently prohibits any form of recognition similar to marriage, the first step toward civil unions or marriage must be repeal of the discriminatory 2005 amendment," Smith concluded.

While unlikely to garner 2/3rds support in both chambers this session given that Democrats hold only slightly more than 1/3rd support in either house, today's Democratic caucus consists of a greater percentage of proponents of marriage equality than the 2005 session. As the party rebuilds its coalition in coming years it is likely to garner far more supportive votes towards an eventual repeal, if the Supreme Court does not rule such bans unconstitutional first.

I really, really, REALLY, doubt they'll get the 2/3rds, but good luck all the same.

[FaxModem1]

I figure this will also come in handy, to show where Texans stand as of last year.

[Shinova]

I didn't expect that kind of opinion out of Texans to be honest. Somewhat pleasantly surprised.

[Alyrium Denryle]

I didn't expect that kind of opinion out of Texans to be honest. Somewhat pleasantly surprised.

First of all, we know nothing about the polling methodology. Given the source, it was probably local to the Austin area which is the Gay Mecca of Texas.

That said, even if the poll did manage to be state wide, the amendment requires a 2/3rds majority to get out of the state legislature and go to a popular vote. If the legislature actually represented the population... maybe, but it does not. The large cities have been jerrymandered into pie slices, with a chunk of a city swamped out by rural hinterland. Between the cities of Austin and San Antonio, there is precisely one democratic state congressman, because the pie slices for each city are the same pie slice--in this case, more of continuous band between cities.

This way, the state legislature is ~75% republican, most of that the sort that panders to the religious right.

[EdgarjPublius]

I didn't expect that kind of opinion out of Texans to be honest. Somewhat pleasantly surprised.

Around two thirds of the state's population is urbanized and growing. Left-leaning politics are more prevalent than is generally believed and are on the rise.

Of course, it may take quite a while for that to filter up through the gerrymandered districts, pretty much every urban population center is split into multiple districts that each encompass huge swaths of rural voters. The most egregious is TX-23, which connects San Antonio to El Paso across about six hundred miles of 'good ole boy' country. Austin shares a district with just about every other major city (TX-10 Austin and Houston, TX-25 Austin and Dallas) and two with San Antonio (TX-35 and TX-21).

This situation, in addition to diluting the liberal urban vote, also tends to discourage liberal voters from going to the poles.

[Alyrium Denryle]

I didn't expect that kind of opinion out of Texans to be honest. Somewhat pleasantly surprised.

Around two thirds of the state's population is urbanized and growing. Left-leaning politics are more prevalent than is generally believed and are on the rise.

Of course, it may take quite a while for that to filter up through the gerrymandered districts, pretty much every urban population center is split into multiple districts that each encompass huge swaths of rural voters. The most egregious is TX-23, which connects San Antonio to El Paso across about six hundred miles of 'good ole boy' country. Austin shares a district with just about every other major city (TX-10 Austin and Houston, TX-25 Austin and Dallas) and two with San Antonio (TX-35 and TX-21).

This situation, in addition to diluting the liberal urban vote, also tends to discourage liberal voters from going to the poles.

Yeah. I pretty much vote out of a sense of civic duty and pure contrariness.

[xt828]

How is it even legal to have that kind of blatant gerrymandering? What body determines electoral districts?

[Alyrium Denryle]

How is it even legal to have that kind of blatant gerrymandering? What body determines electoral districts?

The state legislature. If it gets REALLY bad the federal courts will step in under the Voting Rights or Civil Rights Acts, IIRC

[EdgarjPublius]

It's really amusing to watch the process, in a disturbing and sad kind of way. Sometimes the democratic minority will just up and leave the state in protest and to prevent the redistricting plan from passing, but after the Federal government steps in, the 'compromise' districts still look like a joke.