Today In Texas: Federal Judge To Hold Hearing On Same-Sex Marriage Lawsuits

Lone Star Q reports:

A U.S. district judge in Austin will hold the first-ever hearing Thursday, Jan. 9 on federal lawsuits filed by same-sex couples challenging Texas’ marriage bans as unconstitutional. The three Texas lawsuits are part of a wave that have been filed across the country in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision striking down part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act last June. Judge Sam Sparks, of the Western District of Texas, will hold a status conference Thursday to consider pending motions in the lawsuits. Chief among those motions is a request from Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott, who’s defending the state’s marriage bans, to consolidate the three lawsuits into one. Plaintiffs in the cases oppose Abbott’s consolidation request, but an attorney for one acknowledged it’s likely to be granted.

Two gay men who filed one of the suits have declined offers from attorneys and are representing themselves.