A Texas judge has been officially reprimanded by a state judicial commission for refusing to officiate marriages between same-sex couples because it violates her conscience (and nature…and common sense…and the definition of marriage…). Nonetheless, the judge is sticking to her guns.
Dianne Hensley, an elected official serving McLennan County in central Texas, has refused to conduct weddings of same-sex couples. As Justice of the Peace, she is an elected official who cannot be fired except by the People who elected her. The People who elected her seem fine with her convictions. Nonetheless, a regulatory agency with the state government is demanding she conduct the sham ceremonies for gay couples.
The Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct put out a public statement about Hensley, claiming her refusal to conduct gay weddings affects her “capacity to act impartially to persons appearing before her as a judge due to the person’s sexual orientation.”
Hensley’s practice is to inform the gay couples of other officials who have the capacity to ‘marry’ them, but personally refuses.
She told the press, “I sought a solution so that anyone in McLennan County who wants to get married can get married. I have, do, and always will, follow the law.”
Hensley told an ABC affiliate, “I have no desire to offend anybody but the last person I want to offend is God.”
