SARAH GOODFRIEND ANDSUZANNE BRYANT

PLAINTIFFS

VS.

DANA DEBEAUVOIR, TRAVISCOUNTY CLERK

DEFENDANT

NO.

IN THE DISTRICT COURT

OF TRAVIS COUNTY, TEXAS

JUDICIAL DISTRICT

PLAINTIFFS' ORIGINAL PETITIONAND APPLICATION FOR TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER

TO THE HONORABLE JUDGE OF SAID COURT:

Plaintiffs Sarah Goodfriend and Suzanne Bryant file this Original Petition and

Application for Injunctive Relief against Defendant Dana DeBeauvoir.

I.

Plaintiffs Goodfriend and Bryant are a same-sex couple who desire to get married. United

States District Judge Orlando Garcia has ruled that the Texas ban on same-sex marriages is

unconstitutional, illegal, and unenforceable. On February 17, 2015, the Honorable Guy Herman,

Probate Judge, Travis County, Texas, issued an Order expressly finding that Texas Family Code

2.401, and 6.204(b), and Article I, 32 of the Texas Constitution "are unconstitutional insofar

as they restrict marriage in the State of Texas to the union of a man and woman and prohibit the

creation or recognition of marriage to same-sex couples, because such restrictions and

prohibitions violate the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth

Amendment to the United States Constitution." Plaintiffs have therefore asked Defendant

DeBeauvoir to issue a marriage license to allow Plaintiffs to marry. Based upon her concerns

about the Texas statutory and constitutional prohibitions against same-sex marriageincluding

Texas Family Code 2.001,2.012, and6.204, andin Article I, 32 ofthe Texas Constitution-Defendant DeBeauvoir has told Plaintiffs that shecannot issue thema marriage license, unlessand until a Court orders her to do so. Thedenial ofa marriage license, based onthose statutoryand constitutional prohibitions against same-sex marriage, violates Plaintiffs' constitutional

rights under the Due Process and Equal Protectionclauses of the United States Constitution.

Accordingly, Plaintiffs request that thisCourt issue an immediate Temporary Restraining Ordergranting the reliefnecessaryto allow DefendantDeBeauvoirto issue a marriage license.

II.

As theUnited States Supreme Court has held, the"freedom to marry has longbeenrecognized asone ofthe vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit ofhappiness by freemen." Loving v. Virginia, 388U.S. 1 (1967). The Texas statutory andconstitutional prohibitions

against same-sex marriage denyPlaintiffs the opportunity to exercise that fundamental personalfreedom. Current Texas law promotes the view that same-sex relationships and families areinferior; discriminates against homosexuals; "demean[s]" Plaintiffs and other same-sex couples;andtreats Plaintiffs and other same-sex couples as second-class citizensby "tell[ing] thosecouples, and all the world, thattheir... [prospective] marriages are unworthy of recognition."See UnitedStates v. Windsor, 133 S. Ct. 2675,2693-96 (2013).

III.

Plaintiffs' inability to obtain issuance ofamarriage license is also causing Plaintiffsongoing, irreparable loss ofactual and potential benefits otherwise available under the law,including financial losses that are not capable ofbeing calculated with reasonable certainty, and

including but not limited to depriving Plaintiffs ofintestacy rights;1 homestead rights;2 thepotential rights of spousal maintenance and community-property presumption;" right ofasurvivingspouse to pursue remedies for possible wrongful death; and spousal evidentiaryprivileges. Additionally, PlaintiffGoodfriend has been diagnosed with and received extensivetreatment for ovarian cancer, a life-threatening illness, with all of the inevitable, attendant stress

and disruption of life and family; thus, her future remains veryuncertain.IV.

Plaintiffs have no adequate remedyat lawto obtain a marriage licenseandto remedythatongoing violation of theUnited States Constitution. Unless thisCourt grants an immediate TRO,the violations of Plaintiffs' fundamental constitutional rights will continue on a daily basis, and

will cause ongoing, imminent, and irreparable damage to Plaintiffs.V.

Therefore, Plaintiffs request that this Court immediately (i) issue a Temporary

Restraining Order to prevent the unconstitutional violation ofPlaintiffs' right to obtain amarriage license; (ii) setabond in accordance withTex. R. Civ. P. 684; (iii) setthismatter forTemporary Injunction hearing, and then for trial on Permanent Injunction hearing; and (iv) at theconclusion of suchhearings, grant temporary andpermanent injunctive relief, and grant alladditional relief to which Plaintiffs are entitled.

Respectfully submitted,

HERRING & IRWIN, L.L.P.1411 West Avenue, Suite 100Austin, Texas 78701(512)320-0665

1Tex. Probate Code 38,45.2Tex. Const., art. 16, 52.3 Tex. Family Code 3.003,7.001, 7.003, 8.051.

(512) 519-7580-FAXEmail: cherring@herrina-irwin.com

A^Charles Herring, Jr.State Bar No. 0953410Jess M. Irwin IIIState Bar No. 104257

CATHERINE A. MAUZYState Bar No. 13239400Mauzy & Tucker PLLC1717 West 6th Street, Suite 315Austin, Texas 78703(512)474-1493(512)479-7910

Brian ThompsonState Bar No. 24051425HOPPER MIKESKA, PLLC400 West 15th Street, Suite 408Austin, Texas 78701(512)615-6195(512) 610-1306-FAXEmail: bthompson@hoppermikeska.com

ATTORNEYS FOR PLAINTIFFS

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SARAH GOODFRIEND ANDSUZANNE BRYANT

PLAINTIFFS

VS.

DANA DEBEAUVOIR, TRAVISCOUNTY CLERK

DEFENDANT.

NO.

ORDER

IN THE DISTRICT COURT

OF TRAVIS COUNTY, TEXAS

JUDICIAL DISTRICT

Plaintiffs Goodfriend and Bryant in the above-styled and numbered action are seeking an

immediate Temporary Restraining Order to prohibit the defendant from continuing to enforce

prohibitions against issuance ofmarriage licenses to same-sex persons. Given the time urgency,

and the other circumstances in this case, and the ongoing violations of Plaintiffs' constitutional

rights, the Court has concluded that good cause exists to allow filing of the pleadings in this

matter in paper form, rather than by e-filing, and to permit filing directly with the Court in

accordance with Tex. R. Civ. P. 21(f)(4)C) and 74.

It is so Ordered.

SIGNED this the

Iday of February. 2014

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NO. L

SARAH GOODFRIEND AND IN THE JSUZANNE BRYANT

PLAINTIFFS

VS.

OFTRA

DANA DEBEAUVOIR, TRAVIS COUNTY CLERK

DEFENDANT.

ORDER

JUDICIAL DISTRICT

Plaintiffs Sarah Goodfriend and Suzanne Bryant have filed Plaintiffs' Original Petition

and Application for Temporary Restraining Order, supported by affidavit, against Defendant

Dana DeBeauvoir, the County Clerk of Travis County.

It clearly appears from the facts set forth in the Application that because of the current,

unconstitutional statutory and state constitutional prohibitions in Texas against same-sex

marriage, including as set out in and applied through Texas Family Code 2.001, 2.012, and

6.204, and in Article I, 32 of the Texas Constitution, Plaintiffs are unable to obtain issuance of

a marriage license by Defendant DeBeauvoir.

The Court finds that unless the Court immediately issues a Temporary Restraining Order,

the unconstitutional denial of a marriage license to Plaintiffs will cause immediate and

irreparable damage to Plaintiffs, based solely on their status as a same-sex couple. That

irreparable injury includes the ongoing violation of their rights under the Due Process Clause and

the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution,

through the denial of their vital, personal right to marry. Based on the Plaintiffs sworn pleading

regarding the severity and uncertainty of Plaintiff Goodfriend's health condition, the Court finds

%

that Plaintiff Goodfriend's health condition strongly militates in favor of issuing immediate

relief, before a hearing can be held on Plaintiffs' request for temporary injunction and before a

final trial on the merits of permanent injunctive relief. Plaintiffs have no adequate remedy at law

for the damage and the continuing harm that this course of action is causing them and will

continue to cause them, and thus the only remedy available to Plaintiffs is the issuance ofa

temporary restraining order to prevent that ongoing unconstitutional denial of Plaintiffs'

constitutional rights.

IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that Defendant Dana DeBeauvoir, County Clerk of

Travis County, is hereby commanded forthwith to cease and desist relying on the

unconstitutional Texas prohibitions against same-sex marriage as a basis for not issuinga

marriage license to Plaintiffs Sarah Goodfriend and Suzanne Bryant.

The clerk of this Court shall on the filing of the bond, as specified below, issue a

temporary restraining order in conformity with the law and the terms of this Order.

This Ordershall remain in place and effective for 14calendar days after the date this

Order is signed.

The Plaintiffs' request for temporary injunction shall be set for heanng on -g

2015, at^ ju/fa ^This Order shall not be effective unless and until Plaintiffs execute and file with the clerk

acash bond, in conformity with the law, in the amount of$[ . ^ZrSIGNED on/!-7/, 2015.

"PRESIDING) JUDGE