The Texas Senate has given the thumbs up to a measure that would allow county clerks to refuse to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples if it interferes with their religious beliefs.

Senate Bill 522, authored by State Sen. Brian Birdwell (R-Granbury), was approved 21-10 on Tuesday. It will go up for a final vote within the next few days, and then head to the House.

“If we don’t do this, we are discriminating against people of faith," Birdwell told lawmakers. “What my bill does is protect both those people of faith and those that come asking for a marriage license that we are obligated to provide.”

The measure would allow clerks to recuse themselves, and presumably another clerk without such beliefs would fulfill their duty. "Right now, there is not an alternate mechanism for a clerk who is not willing to issue a license because of their sincerely held beliefs," said Birdwell.

But it doesn't provide a remedy if there were no clerks willing to issue licenses to gay couples. It also doesn't address what would happen if a clerk wouldn't want to give a license to an interfaith couple or to a divorced person, both of which are forbidden by several faiths.

"We're opening up a box of unintended consequences," said Sen. Jose Menendez, (D-San Antonio).