Texas judge rebuked over same-sex wedding stance free to pursue legal action

A Christian judge who was publicly rebuked for refusing to conduct same-sex weddings is free to pursue legal action, following a Texas Supreme Court Ruling.

Dianne Hensley, a county court judge in Waco, Texas, chose to only officiate marriages between a man and a woman and directed same-sex couples elsewhere. She did not receive a complaint, but in 2019, the State Commission issued a public warning, casting doubt on her ability to be impartial in cases involving LGBT people, leading Judge Hensley to stop performing weddings altogether.

The judge filed a lawsuit against the Commission, seeking religious protections and vindication that her conduct did not violate the Texas Constitution. A lower court blocked it from proceeding, but the state’s Supreme Court has now overturned the earlier decision, leaving her free to pursue legal action against the Commission.

‘Irony’

Welcoming the ruling, Judge Hensley said: “I am truly grateful to the Supreme Court for giving me the opportunity to continue to stand for religious liberty and the rule of law.”

In a formal opinion accompanying the court’s decision, Justice Blacklock and Justice Devine said the treatment against Hensley could only serve “to prove that adherents to the old orthodoxy will be made to bend the knee to the new one”.

They added: “by going out of its way to take sides in a contentious moral and political debate”, the Commission did far more to “undermine public confidence in Texas’s judicial branch than a lone justice of the peace in Waco ever could”.

‘Eminently reasonable’

Justices Blacklock and Devine also commented that: “the Judicial Conduct Commission lacks the lawful authority to sanction Judge Hensley or any other Texas judge who politely declines to perform same-sex marriages but respectfully refers same-sex couples to a nearby officiant who will gladly do so.

“Judge Hensley’s eminently reasonable policy honored her personal convictions and showed courtesy to same-sex couples, who the U.S. Supreme Court has said are entitled to a marriage—not to a particular marriage officiant, and especially not to an officiant with religious objections to participating in the ceremony.”

Justice Blacklock added: “Judge Hensley’s actions were not unethical, unconstitutional, or illegal in any way. Politely declining to participate in a same-sex wedding for religious reasons does not demonstrate bias or prejudice against gay people. Nor does it demonstrate an inability to impartially judge their lawsuits.”

Supreme Court

A legal brief submitted in favour of Judge Henley cited the US Supreme Court’s ruling last year on 303 Creative LLC v Elenisin which a Christian web designer won her Supreme Court case against a state law which requires artists to convey any message that a customer requests.

In 2016, Lorie Smith filed a pre-enforcement action against Colorado’s Anti-Discrimination Act in anticipation of attempts to force her to use her artistic talents to promote same-sex marriage.

In the 6-3 majority opinion, Justice Neil Gorsuch argued that Colorado sought to force Smith “to speak in ways that align with its views but defy her conscience about a matter of major significance”.

He said, “as this Court has long held, the opportunity to think for ourselves and to express those thoughts freely is among our most cherished liberties and part of what keeps our Republic strong”.

Kim Davis

Earlier this year, former Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis was ordered to pay $360,000 in fees and damages after she declined to issue marriage licences in 2015 following the US Supreme Court’s redefinition of marriage.

She explained that her “deep-rooted” Christian convictions meant that rather than be forced to issue same-sex marriage licences she would not issue any at all.

Her legal team are expected to appeal the ruling.