Texas now has at least 10 pending lawsuits challenging the state’s bans on same-sex marriage — believed to be the most of any state.
An Austin lesbian widow is the latest to challenge the marriage bans after her late partner’s family sought to exclude her from the estate — an all-too-common scenario in Texas.
Sonemaly Phrasavath says she and her wife, Stella Powell, were together for 10 years, according to a report from KXAN-TV.
They had a domestic partnership and planned to start a family when Powell was diagnosed with cancer last year. Powell died in June before they were able to notarize her will, but Phrasavath is now seeking to have their relationship recognized as a common-law marriage in Texas.
Phrasavath is represented by gay attorney Brian Thompson, a board member for Equality Texas.
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The case is headed to court in January. Although it’s possible Phrasavath will get a favorable ruling from the probate judge, it’s also likely that Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott’s office would intervene and appeal the decision, as it has done in several other cases challenging the marriage bans.
And new AG Ken Paxton will pick up where Abbott leaves off. They’ll appeal and obstruct until they run out of options. Sonemaly Phrasavath and Stella Powell’s story is one of many being told on the new Texas for Marriage site that I wrote about yesterday. Lambda Legal has a description of the nine other current lawsuits involving Texas’ discriminatory law. Our state will be a much better place when that abomination is finally dead and buried.