They have been married 11 years, but now they have decided that their marriage is over, their differences irreconcilable. So, like most couples in similar circumstances, they have filed for divorce. But this divorce has created a whirlwind of controversy – why? Because the divorcing couple are both men.
The couple was married in Massachusetts, the first state in the U.S. to allow same-sex marriage. Texas law does not recognize gay marriage or civil unions at this time, but counsel for the petitioner in this suit says he wants only to dissolve a contract between two people that he thinks Texas law does accept. "My clients want to move on with their lives," the attorney has said, "but they've got to do it so there's no financial or political burden left on them with having this marriage kind of sitting out there."
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said he would intervene in the case. Texas statutes and the state constitution prohibit same-sex marriages or civil unions. Citing those laws, Abbott successfully argued in a Beaumont case that two men could not get a divorce from a civil union in Vermont.
"In the State of Texas, marriage is – and has always been – a union between one man and one woman. To prevent other states from imposing their values on this state, Texas voters overwhelmingly approved a Constitutional amendment specifically defining marriage as a union of one man and one woman," he said in a written statement. "Because the parties' Massachusetts-issued arrangement is not a marriage under Texas law, they are asking a Texas court to recognize – and dissolve – something that does not legally exist."
The couple’s lawyer intends to argue that the men have that right under Article IV, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution, called the “Full Faith and Credit Clause.” This Constitutional provision requires (among other things) that states recognize contracts from other states. However, from another federal perspective, the Defense of Marriage Act recognizes only marriages between a man and woman and allows states to do the same.
It will be very interesting for Texas law and for family law across the United States to see how this suit will play out. See the full article from the Dallas Morning News here: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-gaydivorce_23met.ART.State.Edition2.4ea6e5b.html
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