(Longview, TX) On Monday, House member and Texas State Senate candidate David Simpson announced that he is calling on Governor Abbott to immediately call a special session of the 84th Legislature in light of the Supreme Court’s “lawless and unconstitutional redefinition” of marriage.
Says Simpson, “In light of the Supreme Court’s actions, I believe that the best way to protect marriage is to divorce marriage from government. I am asking the governor to recall the legislature so that legislation may be immediately considered to remove state and local officials from the process of issuing marriage licenses. In its place, the process of issuing a certificate of marriage will be performed by any willing clergy member consistent with their conscience and in respect for our culture and our heritage. For those who do not wish to have a religious ceremony, any authorized notary may approve a certificate.”
Simpson added, “I cannot and I will not sit idly by while unelected judges redefine the sacred institution of marriage and force our county and state officials to violate their most cherished beliefs. Marriage is a divinely instituted tradition as old as humanity. Government marriage is just another government program and a modern failure. Government has cheapened it, redefined it, and parceled it out for profit. As a Christian, I call on every Texan to reject this aberration and contact the governor to take swift action to end it.” In his call to Abbott for a special session to address the issue, Simpson also called on the state’s residents to contact the governor to take action.
This idea has been growing as more and more states have adopted same sex marriage. Earlier this year, an Oklahoma Representative was pushing for the exact same thing. And while those who favor marriage equality may think this sounds like “sour grapes” to try to stop marriage licensing by the government now that it has become equal for everyone, the direct incarnation of our present marriage license does not have that pristine of a history.
The idea of a uniform marriage license didn’t come into being until in the mid to late 1800’s when the issue of miscegenation began to take place. All the states in America had laws outlawing the marriage of blacks and whites but, after the Civil War, certain states began allowing interracial marriages (miscegenation) as long as those marrying received a license from the state.
Not long after these licenses began to be issued, some states began requiring all people who marry to obtain a marriage license (whether this was from the additional influx of money or other reasons). In 1923, the Federal Government established the Uniform Marriage and Marriage License Act (they later established the Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act). By 1929, every state in the Union had adopted marriage license laws.
