US: Hundreds rally in Texas in support of LGBT rights and equal marriage
Hundreds of LGBT rights advocates have taken to the streets of Texas in support of equal rights for LGBT people, including marriage equality.
Supporters of equal marriage advocacy group, Equality Texas rallied on the steps of the Capitol in Austin on Monday. They praised Democratic lawmakers in the second biggest and second most populous state, for continually trying to repeal its ban on equal marriage.
Lawmakers in the US state of Texas this year have high hopes to repeal the state’s ban on equal marriage, despite strong opposition. Bills have also been introduced to allow both parties in a same-sex couple to have their names appear on birth certificates.
Equality Texas also supports bids to make discrimination by employers and insurance companies illegal, reports KHOU.
A constitutional amendment was made in 2005, when voted on by Texans, which excluded same-sex couples from the definition of marriage.
Despite polls suggesting for the first time in 2011 that over half of Americans supported equal marriage nationally, the numbers were much lower in Texas.
The Gallup poll found that 36% of Texans supported lesbian and gay couples getting married and 33% supported civil unions.
Commentators have been heavily crticial of the equal marriage bill, saying that it has little chance in the Republican-controlled legislature. Governor Rick Perry adamantly opposes equal marriage, and has likened homosexuality with alcoholism.
At the rally, El Paso Representative Mary Gonzalez told the crowd the fight for equal rights is a tough one, but is necessary. The Democrat describes herself as pansexual.
