Same sex ban coming to Texas House

The State Affairs Committee of the Texas House of Representatives voted to send a bill to the house banning same-sex marriage. An ammendment to ban civil unions was rejected. The sole no vote was cast by Democrat, Rep. Jessica Farrar. Two other Democrats were absent from the committee.

From the Houston Chronicle:

The vote took Farrar by surprise, coming just minutes into the early-morning meeting.

"I was disappointed that we weren't more deliberate in this. It was just political," said Farrar, D-Houston.

Farrar said she had hoped to hear testimony from the Texas attorney general's office about whether a court challenge of the constitutional amendment is expected and how much the state might have to spend to fight such a lawsuit.

"I believe that no matter how you feel about the homosexuals or the 'practices,' as Chisum says, I think it writes discrimination into the constitution," Farrar said.