Bill would ban same-sex marriage in Texas

06:59 PM CST on Monday, November 8, 2004

By Mike Zientek / 11 News

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A clean sweep by voters in 11 states to amend their constitutions to ban gay marriage, has same-sex couples in Houston fighting to prevent the same action in Texas.

On Election Day, voters approved constitutional amendments traditionally defining marriage in every state where they were on the ballot.

Texas wasn't one of those states, but one state lawmaker, hoping to ride the momentum, filed a bill Monday to ban same-sex marriage.

Some people are calling a proposal to define marriage an attack on the Texas constitution.

If you just passed by them, you might think the two people were simply businessmen on their way to a mid-day meal.

But Christopher Bown and Jerry Simoneaux consider themselves married. The state doesn't recognize that marriage, and they now wonder if it ever will.

"It doesn't bother me but it hurts. It hurts tremendously," says Bown.

Republican State Representative Warren Chisum, from the Panhandle, has filed a bill that would ban same-sex marriage.

The lesbian and gay rights lobby of Texas says it expected this move. Members say there's only one direction they can go, and that's against it.

"We are first class citizens, not second-class citizens," says Randall Ellis. Ellis is the Executive Director of the Lesbian/Gay Rights Lobby of Texas.

Activists say same-sex couples can't qualify for medical help or make medical decisions for their partners, the way a married man and woman can.

"Simply because these people chose to a partner of the same sex does not mean they should be denied that right," says Ellis.

But two women at a midtown restaurant have doubts about same-sex marriage.

Although both of the women said they didn't believe in same-sex marriage, neither could say for sure if they'd vote for a measure banning same sex marriage.

It will be up to the state legislature to decide if they'll get that chance.

Gay marriage is also a hot button issue in the classroom. The State Board of Education approved new health textbooks for Texas high school and middle school students. They did so only after the publishers agreed to change the wording to depict marriage as the union of a man and a woman.