North Texans React To 1st Legal Gay Marriage In The State
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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Jack Evans and George Harris say they cheered when Sarah Goodfriend and Suzanne Bryant exchanged vows Thursday morning, after a state judge ordered the Travis County clerk to issue them a marriage license.
Evans said, "I think it's great. I think Texas is way behind the warp. We ought to get there with the rest of the country."
Harris and Evans exchanged their own vows last March in a Dallas church. Everything has gone well they say except for a recent fall Evans is now recovering from.
Their marriage isn't recognized in Texas, and even Harris had questions about Thursday's ceremony in Austin. "How is that going to stick?"
After the Texas Supreme Court issued a stay preventing other gay marriages, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton wasted no time and said the women's marriage license won't stick and is void.
Pastor Robert Jeffress of the First Baptist Church in Dallas said, "While I believe that certainly all gays have the same constitutional rights as heterosexuals, our country has never recognized marriage as a constitutional right. If so, anybody can get married."
Dallas family law attorney Michelle O'Neil says Thursday's events are unheard of in Texas. "We're here in absolutely unchartered territory here in Texas on these things."
As for Evans, who's 85, and Harris, who's 82, they're still optimistic about the future.
"We had never gone outside the state to get married like so many of our friends have because we wanted to get married in Texas, and I hope we'll live long enough to see that day."
Follow Jack on Twitter: @cbs11jack
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