Over the objections of state Attorney General Greg Abbott, an Austin appellate court has upheld the divorce of a lesbian couple married in Massachusetts.
gay marriage
Posted in
Demographics
TribBlog: Los Libertarios
Libertarians launch a new political action committee, Texas Libertarios, to show Latinos they have more choices than just Republicans and Democrats.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
A Hardline in the Sand
Nearly half of all Texans would repeal the constitutional promise of citizenship for anyone born on U.S. soil, and nearly two-thirds would favor Arizona-style laws allowing the police to ask about the immigration status of anyone they stop for any reason, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
TribBlog: Dallas Court Says No Gay Divorce
The state court of appeals says two men can’t turn their Massachusetts marriage into a Texas divorce.
Posted inState Government
TribBlog: Abbott Declines to Opine on Gay Marriage
In a letter formally declining El Paso County’s request for an opinion on transgender marriages in Texas, Attorney Greg Abbott’s office said it would not opine on the issue because a case currently in court could clear up the question.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Katherine Youngblood Glass: The TT Interview
The Libertarian Party’s gubernatorial candidate talked to the Tribune on Friday about why more Texans should be armed, why same-sex unions should be allowed and her admittedly slim chances of dethroning Gov. Rick Perry.
Posted in
Health care
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
Grissom on the transgender marriage conundrum, Hu on the workers’ comp whistleblowers, M. Smith on the Texas GOP’s brush with debt, Garcia-Ditta on why student regents should vote, Aguilar on the tripling of the number of visas given by the feds to undocumented crime victims, Hamilton on the paltry number of state universities with graduation rates above 50 percent, Ramshaw and Stiles on the high percentage of Texas doctors trained in another country, Ramsey and Stiles on congressmen giving to congressmen, Galbraith on how prepared Texas is (very) for a BP-like oil spill, and my conversation with Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst: The best of our best from May 10 to 14, 2010.
Posted inState Government
Anatomy of a Controversy
In Texas law, marriage and gender are a simple affair: Born a man, always a man, never marry another man. Same for a woman. But sexual identity and love in the modern world are rarely so black and white. So what’s the state to do when a woman who was born a man wants to marry another woman? It’s a conundrum that dismays social conservatives, confounds county clerks and has advocates for gay and transgender rights calling for clarification. But for all the handwringing by politicians and advocates of all stripes, the saga of two women who married legally last week is infinitely more complicated and agonizing.
Posted inState Government
TribBlog: AG Asked to Rule on Transgender Marriage
The El Paso County attorney wants the state’s top lawyer to tell her whether she can issue a marriage certificate to a woman and a biological male who had a sex change operation to become a woman.
Posted inState Government
Anatomy of a Meltdown
A consummate campaign organizer who fought first and compromised later — if ever — Norma Chávez time and again won over voters in her central El Paso district, who first sent her to the Texas House in 1996. But over the past two years, her fighting turned to bullying, and the devolution cost Chávez her job.