AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday in a Houston case that top Republicans hope will provide an opening to chip away at the landmark 2015 ruling legalizing gay marriage nationwide.
A coalition of religious and social conservatives sued America’s fourth-largest city in 2013, challenging its decision to offer same-sex spousal benefits to municipal employees. Last year, Texas’ all-Republican court refused to hear the matter on appeal, effectively allowing the marriage benefits in the wake of the US Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges that the Constitution grants gay couples seeking to marry ‘‘equal dignity in the eyes of the law.’’
But the state Supreme Court reversed itself in January, amid pressure from Republicans.
Justices aren’t expected to rule for months.
Jonathan Mitchell, an attorney representing the groups suing, said that though the US Supreme court ruling legalized gay marriage, it doesn’t require governmental entities to offer taxpayer-funded, same-sex benefits to their employees.