Champion of same-sex marriage aims to be Texas' first openly gay senator
AUSTIN — The man who sued to overturn Texas' ban on gay marriage will run for the state Senate as a Democrat, vying for the seat that represents much of Collin County.
Mark Phariss told The Dallas Morning News he decided to run after seeing Democrats win in other Republican strongholds, like Virginia and Alabama.
"When I was accepting the fact that I was gay, there were two things I kind of thought I had to give up: one, getting married, and two, running for political office," Phariss said Tuesday. "I need to quit assuming what people will think. I need to allow them the choice."
Phariss, a business lawyer based in Plano, and his longtime partner, Victor Holmes, an Air Force veteran, were among four people who sued Texas in 2013 over its ban on same-sex marriage. Their case was in progress when the U.S. Supreme Court extended the right to marry to all same-sex couples in June 2015.
Read more: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/texas-politics/2017/12/19/plaintiff-texas-gay-marriage-case-now-running-senate-seat
= new reply since forum marked as read
