DALLAS (AP) — A county clerk in West Texas is refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples and asks state leaders in a self-described “declaration” to “protect natural marriage from lawless court opinions.”
The objection by Irion County Clerk Molly Criner to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that legalized gay marriage refers to prior court decisions, state resolutions from 1798 and the writings of Martin Luther King Jr. in arguing that marriage “between one man and one woman remains the law in Texas.”
Criner did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday and it’s not clear if others in her office are authorized to issue the license.
Her detailed opposition comes amid a flurry of opinions issued by county attorneys recently for clerks seeking guidance in the wake of the ruling.