Group sues Texas to change law that only allows religious leaders to officiate weddings

The Center for Inquiry (CFI), a nonprofit that fights religious influence on public policy, has filed a federal lawsuit to overturn a Texas law prohibiting anyone but religious leaders and judges from conducting wedding ceremonies. Under Texas' family code, only “officiants associated with organized religion” and state or federal judges can legally officiate marriages. In its suit, filed last week at U.S. District Court in Fort Worth, CFI argues the law discriminates against nonreligious people who wish to have unions formalized in nonsecular ceremonies.