Texas Supreme Court curbs employment benefits for gay spouses of government workers

The Texas Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that the spouses of homosexual government workers are not necessarily entitled to employment benefits.

The high court stated that the landmark 2015 U.S. Supreme Court decision Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, did not address issues such as payments of spousal benefits for government employees.

"The Supreme Court held in Obergefell that the Constitution requires states to license and recognize same-sex marriages to the same extent that they license and recognize opposite-sex marriages, but it did not hold that states must provide the same publicly funded benefits to all married persons," Justice Jeffrey Boyd wrote on behalf of the panel, as reported by Christian News Network.

"Of course, that does not mean ... that the city may constitutionally deny benefits to its employees' same-sex spouses. Those are the issues that this case now presents," he added.

The case was sent back to a lower court, with the Texas Supreme Court saying it could not decide on whether to grant the plaintiff's request to recover previously paid benefits.

The lawsuit was filed by a pastor and an accountant against the city of Houston in 2013 when then-Mayor Annise Parker issued an order that required the city to pay municipal spousal benefits to same-sex couples who were married out-of-state as such unions were illegal in Texas at the time.

The plaintiffs argued that the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on same-sex marriage was poorly reasoned and that same-sex couples were not entitled to spousal employment benefits.

The Texas Supreme Court had previously refused to hear the case, but supporters, with the help of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, urged the justices to reconsider. The high court agreed to hear the case in January, and held a hearing for oral arguments in March before it released its written opinion on Friday.

Houston has been paying benefits for spouses of gay employees, and Mayor Sylvester Turner vowed that the city would not stop providing the benefits despite the ruling.

"The City of Houston will continue to be an inclusive city that respects the legal marriages of all employees," he said, according to Time. "Marriage equality is the law of the land, and everyone is entitled to the full benefits of marriage, regardless of the gender of their spouse," he added.

LGBT rights groups have expressed their intentions to appeal all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if Texas courts decide against them.

The gay rights groups noted that the Texas court decision followed a U.S. Supreme Court case when the justices narrowly ruled that states may not treat married same-sex couples differently when issuing birth certificates. The U.S. Supreme Court decision overturned an Arkansas court ruling, which stated that married lesbian couples cannot be both listed on their children's birth certificates.