Horns Up: Oklahoma's gay marriage ban overturned

On Tuesday, Federal Judge Terence C. Kern struck down Oklahoma’s ban on same-sex marriage. Though the decision does not immediately take effect and will likely be appealed, it nevertheless marks a victory for the LGBTQ community. We commend Kern for overturning this obvious assault on civil liberties and forcing Oklahoma to leave the group of nearly 33 states that don’t allow same-sex marriage through state constitutional amendment. Oklahoma is still a long way from a set-in-stone law that gives same-sex couples the right to wed, but this ruling is progress in the right direction.

Horns Down: OU beat us in yet another field

An unintended consequence of Kern’s ruling: Texas has lost to Oklahoma in a far more important realm than college athletics. When the federal court’s decision inevitably goes to appeal, Texas should take the time to pre-emptively beat its northern neighbor in the field of civil rights and do away with our state constitution’s ban on same-sex marriage.

Horns Up: Powers condemns racist T-shirt

On Tuesday, President William Powers Jr. condemned a controversial T-shirt that featured the face of new football coach Charlie Strong alongside the words “Black is the new brown.” In a tweet from the official UT-Austin Twitter account, Powers called the shirt “ugly” and “racist.” We’re happy to see Powers come out so swiftly and strongly against yet another instance of the subtle racism that has been pervasive in the national dialogue since Strong’s hiring two weeks ago. For decades, discrimination played a massive role in UT’s history — both on and off the football field — and so the discussion of this milestone for the school and the athletics department shouldn’t shy away from issues of race. Still, Strong deserves more than to be reduced to the color of his skin.