Texas Attorney General Says County Clerks Can Refuse Gay Marriage Licenses Despite Supreme Court Ruling

Texas's Attorney General announced over the weekend that county clerks in the state may refuse to issue same-sex marriage licenses despite a recent Supreme Court ruling that made same-sex marriage a constitutional right.

 Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Sunday that despite the recent Supreme Court ruling, county clerks in Texas will not face legal recourse if they choose not to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Paxton said in a statement that the Supreme Court's ruling does not trump the religious freedom rights of U.S. citizens.

"County clerks and their employees retain religious freedoms that may allow accommodation of their religious objections to issuing same-sex marriage licenses," Paxton wrote in his statement.

"Justices of the peace and judges similarly retain religious freedoms and may claim that the government cannot force them to conduct same-sex wedding ceremonies over their religious objections," Paxton added.

The Supreme Court determined last week in a narrow 5-4 decision that same-sex marriage is a constitutional right, thus overturning statewide bans on the marriage of two people of the same sex.

"In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than they once were. Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization's oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right," Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the Supreme Court decision.

Conservative politicians and religious leaders have voiced their disagreement with the recent Supreme Court ruling, with former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee arguing that he fears the ruling will encroach upon Americans' religious liberties.