Last week I reviewed a host of issues concerning Parkinson’s disease and the LGBTQ community; it was a follow-up on an earlier post I wrote shortly after the World Parkinson Congress in September.

This week there is another news item on the same topic.  The Texas Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, declared that married same-sex couples do not automatically qualify to receive the same government benefits as married straight couples.

Here’s the headline and sub-headline from The Texas Tribune:

Texas Supreme Court throws out ruling that favored same-sex marriage benefits

The Texas Supreme Court on Friday threw out a lower court ruling that said spouses of gay and lesbian public employees are entitled to government-subsidized same-sex marriage benefits.

Basically, this means that on the one hand you can be married to your same-sex spouse in Texas, but if you or your spouse works for the state or a city government, don’t expect to receive spousal benefits, including medical insurance.

Gay groups are appealing the ruling.

According to the Texas Tribune article, after the US Supreme Court legalized gay marriage in all 50 states in 2015 (known as the Obergefell v. Hodges decision), “584 same-sex spouses … enrolled in insurance plans — including health, dental or life insurance — subsidized by the state [of Texas], according to a spokeswoman for the Employees Retirement System, which oversees benefits for state employees.”

If this new ruling stands, these couples may lose this benefit.

Which is horrible to think about if the spouse who doesn’t work for the government has Parkinson’s or some other life-threatening disease.

By the way, the Texas court is entirely Republican, and the pressure to pass this ruling was spearheaded by Texas GOP leadership — including Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.