Constant Readers,
In 2006, two dudes got married in Massachusetts where same-sex marriage is legal.
They moved to Dallas, Texas in 2007.
In January of this year, they decided to divorce and came up with an agreement for splitting all their assets.
Prollem is, you have to be a resident of Massachusetts to get divorced there.
So, these guys have two choices: (a) move back to Cambridge, re-establish residency and get divorced, or (b) file for divorce in Texas.
As you may have guessed, Texas doesn't recognize gay marriage.
But a Family Court Judge recently ruled that requiring the men to return to Cambridge, MA in order to get divorced, when heterosexual people don't have to return to the state where they were originally married in order to divorce, violates the Equal Protection clause of the United States Constitution.
According to the NYT article: In the last two years, courts in Indiana, Oklahoma and Rhode Island, for instance, have denied divorces to same-sex couples who had been married in other jurisdictions. All three have laws against gay nuptials. Courts in a few other states, notably New York and New Jersey, have allowed divorces to go forward for gay men and lesbians married in other states, even though they do not allow same-sex marriages.
I have emailed the mens' attorney for a copy of the ruling 'cause it ain't available online. Until we can see it, it'll be hard to know whether this case can survive the legal challenge it's about to face.
Oh, you didn't think Tehas Attorney General Greg Abbott was just gonna stand by and watch gay people be treated equally, did you? Of course, he's appealing the ruling on the grounds that since the people of Texas don't recognize gay people as married, they can't very well get divorced. (In 2003, when a similar situation arose involving a same-sex couple who wanted to dissolve a Vermont Civil Union in Texas, Abbott successfully made the same argument. In re Marriage of R.S. and J.A. (Mar. 28, 2003). )
So, he might win his fight to keep gay people married. Nice.
On the other hand: if the lower court ruling survives, it is not a far jump from "it's unconstitutional to make gay people leave the state to get divorced" to "it's unconstitutional to make gay people leave the state to get married."
In the meantime, let's put this case in the "There's More Than One Way To Challenge Anti-Homosexual Discrimination" file.
BONUS: Texas' divorce rate is higher than the divorce rate in Massachusetts. (.pdf of report here: Download Divorce Rates.)
WElllll, if this doesn't sound like a country western song, I don't know what does.
Gene Elder, HAPPY Foundation, San Antonio, Texas
Posted by: Gene.Elder | October 03, 2009 at 15:44
If you need additional advice for divorce I recommend visiting DadsDivorce at http://www.DadsDivorce.com
Posted by: Jay Taylor | August 23, 2010 at 15:20
If you need additional advice for divorce I recommend visiting DadsDivorce.com.
Posted by: Jay Taylor | August 23, 2010 at 15:24