Texas's tug-of-war on same-sex marriage was given a twist when a lesbian couple acquired on Thursday a marriage license through a special court order given because one of them has cancer.

Despite the court order to Suzanne Bryant and Sarah Goodfriend and license issued by Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeavoir, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton insisted the marriage is invalid.

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The license given to the two was a one-time permit because the county based their request on an earlier ruling this week made by a local judge that the ban was unconstitutional in an estate case.

The couple had their wedding at DeBeavoir's office with friends, a rabbi and their two teenage adopted daughters as witnesses to the ceremony.

After the rite, Bryant said, "Financially, now we're intertwined, and we will have community property that we will share," quotes the New York Times.

With Bryant's marriage to Goodfriend, the one with ovarian cancer, it would ensure inheritance for either of them and allow any of the two to make medical decisions if one becomes critically ill.

In directing DeBeavoir to issue a license, State District Judge David Wahlberg ordered her not to rely on "the unconstitutional Texas prohibitions against same-sex marriage as a basis for not issuing a marriage license."

But Paxton insisted a Supreme Court emergency stay is needed to clarify to all county clerks that the marriage ban remains in the state until a final appellate resolution is issued.

An Indiana court made a similar exception in April for a lesbian pair since one of them had cancer and wanted the other's name to be on her death certificate.

Jessica Dixon Weaver, a family law expert at the Southern Methodist University, agrees with Paxton that the marriage is void due to the lack of state laws allowing same-sex marriages despite the court order and the license issues by the county clerk.

"Because of the state ban and the amendment that was voted on, it's basically void on its face," Dallasnews quotes Weaver.