Protests in Texas over refusal of marriage licences to homosexuals

Supporters protested in Granbury city, capital of Hood county in the US state of Texas against county clerk Katie Lang's decision to not issue marriage licences to same-sex couples.

Around 50 people on Thursday protested against Lang, threatening to file a law suit against her if she did not issue the licences personally, Efe news agency reported.

A hundred people had also gathered in support of the county clerk in front of the courts under her administration.

The Supreme Court last week legalised same-sex marriages throughout the US but clerks in over 50 counties of Texas have been refusing to issue marriage licences on religious grounds.

Lang had strongly objected to the Supreme Court's ruling arguing "marriage is for one man and one woman, because it did derive from the Bible".

Now faced with lawsuits and fines, Lang has ordered some of her subordinates to issue marriage licences.

Lang's decision has been upheld by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who earlier advised officials to disobey the Supreme Court order, if it was against their conscience.

Officials in other southern states such as Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama too have been refusing marriage licences to homosexual couples.

US Court of Appeals for the fifth Circuit in New Orleans ordered the states of Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, over which it has jurisdiction, to lift restrictions on same-sex marriages and implement the top court's decision.