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That’s what Barbara Ann Radnofsky, a Houston lawyer and current Democratic candidate for attorney general of Texas, is saying about a 22-word clause in the state’s 2005 constitutional amendment designed to ban same-sex marriages. From the Star Telegram:

The [2005] amendment, approved by the Texas Legislature and overwhelmingly ratified by Texas voters, declares that “marriage in this state shall consist only of the union of one man and one woman.” But the trouble-making phrase, as Radnofsky sees it, is Subsection B, which declares:

“This state or a political subdivision of this state may not create or recognize any legal status identical or similar to marriage.”

Architects of the amendment included the clause to ban same-sex civil unions and domestic partnerships. But Radnofsky, who was a member of the powerhouse Vinson & Elkins law firm in Houston for 27 years until retiring in 2006, says the wording of Subsection B effectively “eliminates marriage in Texas,” including common-law marriages.

She calls it a “massive mistake” and blames the current attorney general, Republican Greg Abbott, for allowing the language to become part of the Texas Constitution. “You do not have to have a fancy law degree to read this and understand what it plainly says,” said Radnofsky,

Radnofsky is calling on Abbott to apologize for the mistake, although she also said that another constitutional amendment might be necessary to reverse the problem.

I mean, it does say “this state may not create or recognize any legal status identical or similar to marriage.” And “marriage” sounds pretty identical to “marriage.” And, really, how poetic would it be if the anti-gay people of Texas, in their effort to enshrine bigotry into their state’s constitution, instead enshrined the ends of their own marriages?