Gay Dallas judge won’t conduct marriages because they ‘can’t be performed for me’
Gay Dallas judge won’t conduct marriages because they ‘can’t be performed for me’
Out lesbian Dallas County Judge Tonya Parker touted her refusal to conduct marriage ceremonies in her courtroom on Tuesday night.
“I have the power, of course, to perform marriage ceremonies,” Parker said. “I don’t.”
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Using the example of turning young couples away who want the court to marry them quickly because they are often pregnant and desperate, Parker said she refers them to other judges because of the state’s marriage inequality, informing them that that is why she will not marry them.
“I use it as my opportunity to give them a lesson about marriage inequality in this state because I feel like I have to tell them why I’m turning them away,” Parker said. “So I usually will offer them something along the lines of ‘I’m sorry. I don’t perform marriage ceremonies because we are in a state that does not have marriage equality, and until it does, I am not going to partially apply the law to one group of people that doesn’t apply to another group of people.’ And it’s kind of oxymoronic for me to perform ceremonies that can’t be performed for me, so I’m not going to do it.”
more:
http://www.dallasvoice.com/judge-parker-refuses-conduct-marriages-cant-performed-me-10102160.html
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