In the LGBTQ Nation article “Texas judge asks federal court to end marriage equality nationwide,” reporter Alex Bollinger details a new legal challenge led by Waco Justice of the Peace Dianne Hensley. Filed in December 2025, the federal lawsuit seeks to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage across the United States.
Key Arguments and Legal Strategy Hensley, represented by prominent conservative attorney Jonathan Mitchell, argues that the Obergefell decision is unconstitutional because it “subordinated state law to the policy preferences of unelected judges.” Mitchell contends that the U.S. Constitution contains no language suggesting that same-sex marriage is a fundamental right. The lawsuit specifically asks the court to prevent the State Commission on Judicial Conduct from disciplining judges who refuse to perform same-sex ceremonies. For years, Hensley has performed opposite-sex weddings while refusing same-sex couples, citing her Christian beliefs. This led to a 2019 warning from the Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct for violating impartiality rules.
Although the Texas Supreme Court recently amended state judicial canons in October 2025 to allow religious “opt-outs,” the commission maintains that judges cannot selectively perform ceremonies for some couples but not others. The suit follows a recent November 2025 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to decline a similar appeal from former Kentucky clerk Kim Davis. Despite that setback for anti-equality advocates, Hensley’s team is explicitly targeting the national right to marry, aiming to return marriage policy entirely to individual states.
