A Texas judge is asking a federal court to overturn marriage equality in the U.S., arguing in a lawsuit filed on Friday that marriage for same-sex couples is unconstitutional because it was legalized in a decision that subordinat[ed] state law to the policy preferences of unelected judges.The case involves Judge Dianne Hensley of Waco, Texas, who has been involved in years of legal proceedings to try to win the right to not perform marriages for same-sex couples while still performing them for opposite-sex couples. She claims that, as a Christian, she should not have to follow state judicial ethics rules about impartiality. Related Texas judge says Supreme Court ruling means she doesnt have to officiate same-sex weddings Earlier this year, Kim Davis, the Kentucky county clerk who refused to sign marriage licenses for same-sex couples immediately following the Supreme Courts 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision, asked the Supreme Court to overturn its marriage equality ruling. The Court declined to hear her appeal in November. Now Judge Hensley, who has also refused to perform marriages for same-sex couples since Obergefell was decided, is asking federal courts to end marriage rights for same-sex couples. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today Justices of the peace in Texas dont have to officiate marriages, but they can do so on the side to earn extra money. Hensley refused to perform marriages for same-sex couples for years after Obergefell legalized marriage in her state, performing around 70 opposite-sex marriages. Any same-sex couple that asked her to perform their marriage she was the only justice of the peace performing marriages in her city got a message that read, Im sorry, but Judge Hensley has a sincerely held religious belief as a Christian, and will not be able to perform any same-sex weddings.The Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct opened an investigation into her discriminatory policy in 2018 and found that she violated state rules requiring judges to be impartial, issuing her a warning. If youre going to perform marriages, you must perform marriages for everyone, said Texas Justice Court Training Center executive director Thea Whalen in 2019.Hensley claimed that the investigation discriminated against her as a Christian, and she sued with help from an anti-LGBTQ+ legal organization, the First Liberty Institute. She eventually got support from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R).I have no desire to offend anybody, but the last person I want to offend is God, she said at the time. So Im entitled to accommodations just as much as anyone else. The state supreme court changed the rules in October of this year to allow judges to discriminate against same-sex couples. The Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct withdrew its warning against Hensley last year, but, in a filing this year, said judges still cant discriminate in the state. The commission said that the state supreme courts rule change only gives a judge the authority to opt out of officiating due to a sincere religious belief, but does not say that a judge can, at the same time, welcome to her chambers heterosexual couples for whom she willingly offers to conduct marriage ceremonies.So Hensley filed a new lawsuit in a federal court in Waco. The lawsuit asks the court to stop the commission from investigating and disciplining her. She is represented by Jonathan Mitchell, a right-wing lawyer.The Commissions bullying of Judge Hensley and its menacing behavior toward other Christian judges is the direct result of the Supreme Courts pronouncement in Obergefell that homosexual marriage is a constitutional right, Mitchell wrote in the complaint. There is nothing in the language of the Constitution that even remotely suggests that homosexual marriage is a constitutional right.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.