11 December 2017

Supreme Court Say No Benefits For Gay Spouses

Supreme Court
An early Christmas for Americans was delivered by the U.S. Supreme Court last 4 December as it upheld the Texas ruling that gay spouses are not entitled to government-subsidized workplace benefits. This is big victory for social conservatives hoping to preserve their culture and get rid of special privileges for the LGBT.

In June, the Texas Supreme Court overturned a lower court's decision favoring spousal benefits for gay city employees in Houston, ordering the issue back to trial. That was a major reversal for the all-Republican state high court, which previously refused to even consider the benefits case after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the landmark Obergefell v. Hodges decision that the Constitution gave way to the pressure from gay couples to marry.

With no added pressure now, the Texas court heard the case amid the requests from Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Attorney General Ken Paxton, as well as dozens of other conservative elected officials, church leaders and grassroots activists. They argued that the case may help Texas limit the scope of the Supreme Court ruling, especially in how it is applied to states.

"The Supreme Court held ... that the Constitution requires states to license and recognize same-sex marriages to the same extent that they license and recognize opposite-sex marriages, but it did not hold that states must provide the same publicly funded benefits to all married persons," Texas Justice Jeff Boyd wrote.

The U.S. Supreme Court decision to reject Houston's appeal of the Texas court decision came without dissent or comment. The case began with a coalition of religious and socially conservative groups suing America’s fourth-largest city in 2013 to block a move to offer same-sex spousal benefits to municipal employees.

Sarah Kate Ellis, President and CEO of the civil rights group GLAAD, said the U.S. Supreme Court "has just let an alarming ruling by the Texas Supreme Court stand which plainly undercuts the rights of married same-sex couples."

This decision comes just one day before the court is expected to hear one of the most influential LGBT cases of the decade, Masterpiece Cakeshop v Colorado Civil Rights.

Jared Woodfill, a Houston attorney and conservative activist at the center of the case, called Monday’s action by the nation's high court, "A nice early Christmas present."

"The U.S. Supreme court could have taken the case and used it to further expand Obergefell. They chose not to," he said. "It's confirmation that the Texas Supreme Court got it right."