It turns out that the 2005 amendment to the Texan constitution banning same sex marriage in fact stops the state from recognizing any marriage whatsoever. The amendment reads:
(a) Marriage in this state shall consist only of the union of one man and one woman.
(b) This state or a political subdivision of this state may not create or recognize any legal status identical or similar to marriage.
Since marriage is identical to itself, the state of Texas and its subdivisions are constitutionally prohibited from recognizing marriage. Silly government!
Many libertarians seem to view this as an accidental ban on marriage, and an example of a stupid and bigoted law being made even more harmful than originally intended by government incompetence. If this amendment becomes effective as worded, however, it doesn’t stop anyone from declaring whatever relationship they like and asking, not forcing, others to treat them accordingly. What it does is stop the government from granting special legal status on those couples meeting the government requirements for marriage and getting a state license.
By accidentally withdrawing from the marriage business, the state of Texas has made Texans more free. Not only would this give legal equality to same-sex couples, and any other domestic relationship people might like to form; but would also remove the issue of what relationships to recognize from the prickly realm of expressive politics. Unfortunately, another amendment to put the amendment more in line with its original bigoted intent seems likely.
Brad Taylor is a graduate student in Political Science at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand. He blogs at 
And Texans wonder why everyone else makes fun of them…
Wow.
As someone who spends a *lot* of time and energy pushing for same-sex marriage on a second-best rationale, I’ve now gotta reevaluate: it seems my preferred solution—government out of marriage—can be put on the table (or slipped under the table).
I’d say government incompetence randomly musses up policy objectives. Ending up with the liberal result is probably pretty rare.
This is awesome! I hope some people sue to have the state cease and desist issuing marriage licenses altogether.
Some months back at the suggestion of some friends, I started work on a no-state registry for births, deaths, marriages, divorces. Fun.
LOL, things like this make my day