A federal judge on Tuesday ordered Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to recognize same-sex marriages on death and birth certificates by Aug. 24, according to the Texas Tribune.
Paxton, along with another state official, was ordered last week to appear at a contempt of court hearing over the state’s refusal to amend the death certificate of a Texas resident’s spouse. According to John Stone-Hoskins, the state would not change the document following the Supreme Court’s ruling on gay marriage to note that his late husband had been married.
The state announced last week that they had amended the death certificate of Hoskin’s spouse to reflect the marriage after U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia ordered Texas officials to do so. And in a Monday conference call, Paxton said that officials would change state policies regarding death and birth certificates by the end of this week, according to the Texas Tribune.
Paxton’s contempt of court hearing was originally scheduled for Wednesday, but Garcia postponed the hearing until Sept. 10 while the state revises its policies regarding same-sex marriage.
