People in comments seem to think it's mere “lawyering” to believe that if Texas had defined something in subpart A of the amendment that it could not have then banned it in subpart B. Except, of course, that's how laws get written all the time.
For example, the criminal law is filled with that type of thing. “Statutory rape is defined as X.” “Statutory rape is a felony punishable by Y.” Regulatory law is also fileld with that type of thing. “Controlled substance is defined as A.” “No wholesaler, manufacturer, or retailer shall furnish controlled substances unless B (usually having to do with state licensing).”
When the legislature defines something it does not necessarily follow that it intends to approve that thing. Now, you and I know that Texas very much wanted to approve the traditional notion of marriage with its 2005 amendment and ban gay alternatives. The text of that amendment, though, followed a familiar pattern:
(A) Definition: Marriage is between a man and a woman.
(B) Proscription: The state shall not recognize legal statuses identical to marriage.
Commenters are reading an implicit “other” in subpart B (”The state shall not recognize other legal statuses”), because they know the intent of the amendment. The point of my original post is that the text alone does not get you there.
Sorry Meta, look at the actual verbage, it is one sentence and is even more clear IMO than how you presented it in the initial posting. I think Babs will be disappointed with the AG opiniom when it is issued, looks and sounds like settled law to me.