US Supreme Court rejects Texas case on spousal benefits of homosexual government employees

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear a case regarding spousal benefits for gay and lesbian government employees in Houston, Texas.

The high court's rejection of the case upholds a Texas ruling that gay spouses are not entitled to government-subsidized workplace benefits. According to Christian News Network, the nine justices denied the appeal of the case on Monday, along with several other petitions from across the country.

"We are very excited about our win today in front of the United States Supreme Court. The court decision confirms that the Texas Supreme Court's 9-0 decision reversing the Court of Appeals was correct," attorney Jared Woodfill said in a statement.

The case began in 2013 when former Houston Mayor Annise Parker issued an order requiring the city to provide benefits to homosexual city workers who got married out-of-state as same-sex marriage was illegal in Texas at the time. A pastor and an accountant filed a lawsuit against the city the following month, arguing that the mayor's order violated the Houston city charter, the Texas Defense of Marriage Act and the state Constitution.

State Judge Lisa Millard granted an injunction against Parker, but an appeals court lifted the injunction, following the 2015 Supreme Court ruling of Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage.

Plaintiffs Jack Pidgeon and Larry Hicks filed an appeal with the state Supreme Court, which initially declined to consider the case in September 2016.

However, the state high court decided to reconsider the case after Gov. Greg Abbott, Lieutenant Gov. Dan Patrick and state Attorney Gen. Ken Paxton all filed amicus briefs asking the justices to review it.

Oral arguments in the case were heard in March, and the state high court issued a ruling in June, overturning a lower court's decision favoring spousal benefits for gay city employees in Houston.

The justices argued that while Obergefell may have granted the right to same-sex marriage, the decision "did not hold that states must provide the same publicly funded benefits to all married persons."

Lawyers representing Houston appealed the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, but the petition was denied on Monday.

According to Houstonia, the case is now expected to go to a state court, where the question of providing benefits will be reviewed. The city contended that the legalization of gay marriage in 2015 meant that all marriages are considered equal, so anything offered to opposite-sex couples must also be provided to same-sex couples.

Mayor Sylvester Turner said that Houston will continue to provide benefits for the spouses of gay city employees as the case makes its way back to the lower courts in the state.