The state high court ruling did not invalidate the marriage of the two women in Austin, but Paxton said his office will seek to void their marriage license “due to the erroneous judicial order.”
A county clerk in Austin issued the state’s first marriage license to the same-sex couple, acting on the order of a Travis County judge who said health issues prevented the couple from waiting for further court decisions.
Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir’s office said she issued Goodfriend and Bryant a marriage license at the order of District Judge David Wahlberg. Goodfriend said she had emergency surgery after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer in May.
Paxton responded by asking the Texas Supreme Court to block any rulings that “seek to undermine the constitutionality of Texas’ marriage law.”
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“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.”
Paxton said his office filed a lawsuit seeking to enjoin the Travis County clerk from issuing any other same-sex marriage licenses.
Bryant told reporters, “We’re just very grateful that we’ve had this opportunity to crack the door open in Texas. We hope it will swing wide for everyone very soon.”
CNN’s Jason Hanna contributed to this report.
