Texas Supreme Court Set To Hear Suit From Christian Judge Who Refuses To Officiate Same-Sex Marriages

The Dallas Morning News reports:

Dianne Hensley felt guilty. sitting behind her desk at the county courthouse in Waco, she could hear someone crying outside her office door. The young woman wanted to get married, Hensley recalled, but she couldn’t find anyone to do the ceremony.

It was 2016, the year after the U.S. Supreme Court toppled bans on same-sex marriage in Texas and other states across the country. Told they now must marry all couples or none, the justices of the peace at the courthouse in McLennan County, including Hensley, chose the latter.

The crying woman helped Hensley make a decision. She called a lawyer to see if she could start performing marriages again — but only for opposite-sex couples. Seven years later, Hensley’s lawsuit is set to be heard this week by the Texas Supreme Court.

From my July 2023 report:

After Hensley was warned by the judicial conduct commission, she filed a lawsuit claiming the investigation and warning “substantially burdened the free exercise of her religion, with no compelling justification.” She seeks damages of $10,000. She has been represented by the First Liberty Institute, a high-profile religious liberty legal group based in Plano. The legal group also has strong ties to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

A Texas judge doesn’t want to marry gay couples. The Supreme Court will soon hear her case @lmcgaughy @dallasnews https://t.co/AOjQmKyuy2

— Tom Huang (@tomthuang) October 23, 2023

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