A county clerk in Austin, Texas, said Thursday she issued the state’s first marriage license to a same-sex couple, acting on the order of a Travis County district judge who said the pair couldn’t wait for further court decisions because of health reasons.
Travis County Clerk Dana Debeauvoir’s office said she issued a marriage license to Sarah Goodfriend and Suzanne Bryant on Thursday at the order of District Judge David Wahlberg.
The order applied only to that couple, and “any additional licenses issued to same-sex couples also must be court ordered,” Debeauvoir’s office said in a statement.
Texas’ ban on same-sex marriage was struck down by a federal judge in January 2014, though that judge allowed it to remain in effect pending appeals.
Debeauvoir’s statement said her office was ordered to immediately “cease and desist relying on the unconstitutional Texas prohibitions against same-sex marriage as a basis for not issuing a marriage license.” In the case of Goodfriend and Bryant, the statement cited “severe and immediate health concerns.”
“We are all waiting for a final decision on marriage equality,” Debeauvoir said in the statement. “However, this couple may not get the chance to hear the outcome of this issue because (of) one person’s health. … It is important to note that this order applies only to the medically fragile couple who brought the court action. Any additional licenses issued to same-sex couples also must be court ordered.”