There are 37 states that allow gay marriage, while appeals are pending in the remaining 13 states.

On Feb. 19, two women in Austin, Texas, were married after State District Judge David Wahlberg made an exception since one of them had ovarian cancer.

It seemed like a step in the right direction for the ole’ Lone Star state, yet, just six days later, the conservative group, Texas Values, whips out their ceremonial knife and cuts into the prettiest of pink cakes in honor of the Texas Marriage Amendment celebration—where only one man and one woman can marry in the state.

This was a 10-year celebration of keeping gay marriage banned in Texas.

On top of this, Texas did not recognize the marriage of these two women and put a ban on any future gay marriages.

At one point, Texas proposed that any judge who performed a marriage on a gay couple would have their license taken away.

The Supreme Court will hear cases on gay marriage and will be expected to make a decision by the summer. So it can either speed up the process in the remaining states and force Texas on to that proverbial bandwagon, or erase everything that the LGBTQA community has worked so hard to achieve.

By the way, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has spoken up for gay marriage, so Texas better put those knives away and start opening the court doors.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Ginsburg said that Americans won’t need a large adjustment when gay marriage is passed as legal.

“The change in people’s attitudes on that issue has been enormous,” Ginsburg said. “In recent years, people have said, ‘This is the way I am.’ And others looked around, and we discovered it’s our next-door neighbor — we’re very fond of them. Or it’s our child’s best friend, or even our child. I think that as more and more people came out and said that ‘this is who I am,’ the rest of us recognized that they are one of us.”

So if the one of justices from the highest court can’t persuade Texas into shaking itself out of conservatism and joining the movement for equal rights, who can?

And in the case that gay marriage is legalized, how will Texas address social issues like bullying against the LGBTQA community – where four transgender women have already been murdered – or transgender identity?

The legalization of gay marriage throughout the country, especially in Texas, is more than just allowing two people to join in matrimony for the rest of their lives.

It will pave the road, if not make the journey easier, for future endeavors that this community faces – such as collecting the necessary data on the transgender population, providing gender-neutral options and stigmatization.

Can I even go as far as to say it will help women attain their rights in equal pay and health?

So to Texas I say, get it together. Blue looks better on you, anyway.

Lorain Ambrocio may be reached at [email protected].