Texas gay couple settles suit against county clerk who refused to issue marriage license

A federal lawsuit against a Texas county clerk who denied a gay couple a marriage license has been settled, lawyers for the two men said on Monday.

The attorneys for Jim Cato and Joe Stapleton said in a statement that they settled the suit against Hood County Clerk Katie Lang for the cost in legal fees, or almost $44,000.

Lang said in late June her Christian beliefs were being violated by issuing licenses to same-sex couples and she would not personally grant them.

The clerk's office issued the document after the lawsuit was filed on July 6.

"Clerk Lang is fortunate that the Hood County Commissioners agreed to resolve the lawsuit now to save her from dealing with the additional expense and significant financial exposure her actions caused the taxpayers of her county,” Jan Soifer, of Austin law firm O’Connell & Soifer, said in the statement.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that the U.S. Constitution provides gay couples the right to marry.

(Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)