HR1401 - Recognizing June 26, 2025, as Marriage Equality Day.

  89R11970 BK-D     By: González of Dallas H.R. No. 1401       R E S O L U T I O N          WHEREAS, On June 26, 2015, the United States Supreme Court   issued a landmark decision in the case of Obergefell v. Hodges ,   granting same-sex couples the right to marry in all 50 states; and          WHEREAS, The ruling capped more than a decade of legal and   judicial action on the issue; in 2003, Massachusetts became the   first state to allow same-sex marriage; by 2015, 35 other states and   the District of Columbia had followed suit, but 14 states continued   to bar the practice; and          WHEREAS, In February 2014, a federal lawsuit was filed on   behalf of four same-sex couples, setting off a flurry of litigation   in Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, and Tennessee from plaintiffs seeking   recognition for out-of-state marriages and petitioning courts to   overturn existing marriage bans; in November of that year, the   state bans on marriage rights were upheld by the U.S. Court of   Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, setting the stage for action by the   U.S. Supreme Court; in January 2015, the justices of the high court   agreed to grant review of the cases, which were consolidated under   the title Obergefell v. Hodges ; and          WHEREAS, The court's deliberations concerned the question of   whether same-sex couples were guaranteed the right to marry under   the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution; on June 26,   2015, the historic ruling was handed down in a five-to-four vote,   with the court asserting that states may not "bar same-sex couples   from marriage on the same terms accorded to couples of the opposite   sex"; and          WHEREAS, The Supreme Court's decision in Obergefell v. Hodges   was a crucial turning point in the long struggle to achieve justice   and equality under the law for LGBTQ Americans, and it is fitting to   reflect on the ruling's tremendous historical significance on the   occasion of its 10th anniversary; now, therefore, be it          RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 89th Texas   Legislature hereby recognize June 26, 2025, as Marriage Equality   Day and pay tribute to all those who have worked to secure equal   marriage rights.