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Texas Judge OK's Gay Divorce


TEXAS FLAG X390 (PHOTOS.COM) | ADVOCATE.COM

A judge ruled Thursday that a married gay couple in Dallas can be granted a divorce, setting the stage for a same-sex marriage battle royal in the Lone Star State.

Dallas state district judge Tena Callahan ruled that two men married in Massachusetts could be divorced in Texas, a state with a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. Callahan declared that the state's ban on same-sex marriage violated equal protection under the law.

"This is huge news. We're ecstatic," Dallas attorney Peter Schulte, who represents the man who filed for divorce, told The Dallas Morning News. The men in the case are asking not to be identified in the press because one of them is not out to his employer.

When the divorce was initially filed in January, Texas attorney general Greg Abbott intervened in the case, saying that since same-sex marriage isn't recognized in Texas, a state court there can't dissolve one through divorce.

Schulte is hoping Judge Callahan signs the divorce order in the next few weeks. Attorney General Abbott said he would appeal the ruling "to defend the traditional definition of marriage that was approved by Texas voters."

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4 readers have recommended this story.

Reader Comments
  • Name: Allen
    Date posted: 10/3/2009 2:41:26 AM
    Hometown: Dallas

    Comment:

    Well, it's legal to split gay families here in Texas now.. maybe someday we'll get to making everyone equal and protected by the same letter of the law?

  • Name: Frank E.
    Date posted: 10/2/2009 2:19:58 PM
    Hometown: Austin

    Comment:

    This is good news. The more legal precedents showing that equal protection in the constitution entails marriage equality, the better. The anti-equality forces have no constitutional legs to stand on. Their only arguments are subjective views on religion, which have no place in a court of law. "Romer v. Evans" and "Lawrence v. Texas" clearly establish the LGBT population as deserving of equal constitutional protection, as this courageous judge in Dallas clearly saw. The more precedents like this, the stronger will be the judicial tidal wave that builds, and Boies and Olsen can take this all the way to SCOTUS. Then religious extremists can whine all they want, but to no avail, for our rights will be guaranteed in the constitutional equal protection corpus of law.

  • Name: Scott
    Date posted: 10/2/2009 10:04:02 AM
    Hometown: Jacksonville, FL

    Comment:

    Hmm, wonder if that would work in Florida. Honey, want to file for divorce to see if it works?!? Don't see any reason why the couple should not be entitled to get a divorce in Texas. Maybe this is a "new back door" our Chrisitan brothers & sisters have failed to "close"...

  • Name: Rob
    Date posted: 10/2/2009 3:52:05 AM
    Hometown: Tempe

    Comment:

    @JC... Totally agree... I can't see any reason other than a publicity stunt to get conservatives riled up. There is a heated governor race after all. This all coming from a state that wants to secede because of wasteful government spending while accepting those checks. I guess in the words of a famous Texan..... "You can't fix stupid."

  • Name: Timothy Hulsey
    Date posted: 10/2/2009 1:34:01 AM
    Hometown: Charlottesville, VA

    Comment:

    How long until Texas passes a Defense of Divorce Act?

  • Name: David
    Date posted: 10/2/2009 12:02:14 AM
    Hometown: Austin TX

    Comment:

    Our AG is incredibly slimy - its nice to see him getting smacked down even when, as this being Texas if is unnecessary, the ruling gets overruled I'll still have smile on my face.

  • Name: JC
    Date posted: 10/1/2009 11:40:23 PM
    Hometown: Orlando

    Comment:

    This is a publicity stunt to a degree. I like it. It'll get them talking about this topic for a while.

  • Name: Jeff Watson
    Date posted: 10/1/2009 10:43:17 PM
    Hometown: Oakland

    Comment:

    Come on over to the discussion board at the Dallas Morning News where this article is coming from. Lots of 'phobes posting their usual rhetoric. It's kinda fun watching them squirm.

  • Name: Jason
    Date posted: 10/1/2009 10:42:27 PM
    Hometown: TX

    Comment:

    While this will surely get overturned, the sheer ruling and the judge's reasoning is enough to make me smile, considering that almost all states w/o S-SM have ruled against S-S divorce. Yet Texas, of all places, took a different route.



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