Amarillo Is Ready To Issue Same-Sex Marriage Licenses

There's been a lot of talk in the last few days about whether County Clerks in Texas counties will issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The Attorney General caused some consternation with his rather muddied opinion saying individuals could refuse to issue licenses if it violated their religious beliefs, but most clerks now understand that someone in each office must issue those licenses (or the office will be subject to legal action and fines).

And that includes the clerks serving the city of Amarillo. Amarillo is in two separate counties. The northern half is in Potter County and the southern half is in Randall County. The clerks of both counties say they took Monday to download the new license forms from the state, and had worked out any glitches by late Tuesday. Both Potter County Clerk Julie Smith and Randall County Clerk Renee Calhoun say they have not yet had any licenses requested, but they stand ready to issue the licenses when asked to do so.

Amarillo is in one of the reddest areas of Texas -- an area that votes overwhelmingly Republican. So, many of us wondered how these clerks would react to the court decision. It is gratifying to see that they were not willing to waste taxpayer money by getting the counties engaged in silly lawsuits.