Two Austin women officially tied the knot on Thursday morning, becoming the first same sex couple to marry in Texas.
Sarah Goodfriend and Suzanne Bryant were married outside the Travis County Clerk’s office by Rabbi Kerry Baker, according to The Statesman. They have been together for 31 years, and are well known for attempting to marry in the past, only to be denied.
Here’s the moment they were married, courtesy of the Texas Democratic Party on Facebook:
Sarah Goodfriend and Suzanne Bryant become the first same sex couple to marry in Texas. Photo: Texas Democratic Party on Facebook.
A Texas judge ordered the Travis County Clerk to issue their marriage license following a Travis County judge’s ruling earlier this week declaring the Texas ban on marriage equality unconstitutional. The Travis County judge’s ruling followed a federal judge’s ruling to the same effect in Feb. 2014. However, both of those rulings were stayed from enforcement pending appeal, and Texas has continued denying equal rights to LGBTQ individuals. Meanwhile, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has asked the Texas Supreme Court to intervene.
Goodfriend and Bryant were given special consideration by state District Judge David Wahlberg because of “severe and immediately health concerns” that may make their union impossible in the coming months. He signed an order early Thursday morning directing the Travis County clerk to “cease and desist relying on the unconstitutional Texas prohibitions against same sex marriage as a basis for not issuing a marriage license specifically to Plaintiffs Sarah Goodfriend and Suzanne Bryant.”
They are the only same sex couple in the state allowed to marry thus far, according to a statement from the Travis County Clerk’s office. Until the appeals process has finished, clerks in Texas are not issuing same sex marriage licenses except by court order.
Below, you can watch the moment Goodfriend and Bryant found out about the 2014 ruling against the Texas marriage equality ban, in a video courtesy of the Statesman…
