One anomaly of the state variations in American marriage laws, is that couples who marry in one state where same - sex marriage is recognised, and then move to another where it is banned, is that when things go pear - shaped, divorce is not an available remedy. That has been the case in Texas - until now. Following an earlier ruling in federal court that the Texas ban on same - sex marriage is unconstitutional, a state court has now concluded that the obvious corollary is - gay divorce must also be legal.
Judge in same-sex divorce case rules Texas gay marriage ban unconstitutional
SAN ANTONIO, Texas — A state district judge in Texas has ruled that the state’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, “paving the way for a San Antonio couple’s divorce proceedings and subsequent child custody battle to continue.”
In a ruling issued Tuesday, Judge Barbara Nellermoe identified three portions of the Texas Family Code as unconstitutional, as well as Section 32 of the Texas Constitution, reports the San Antonio Express-News.
The ruling comes in response to a challenge filed by a lesbian couple married in Washington D.C., in 2010 and who are now seeking a divorce in Texas. One parent is seeking sole custody of their child, conceived through artificial insemination, while the other parent is seeking joint custody.
Because Texas doesn’t recognize same-sex marriages, there’s also no legal avenue available to pursue a divorce, and in such cases where the state does not recognize the couple’s marriage, the child is only considered legally the child of the birth mother.
But in her ruling, Nellermoe wrote that such a practice violates the Equal Protection Clause.
“By denying their parents the right to marry, Texas has created a suspect classification of children who are denied equal protection of the law under the Fourteenth Amendment,” Nellermoe wrote.
– full report at LGBTQ Nation.
Related articles
- Second TX Judge Rules State Marriage Ban Unconstitutional (bilerico.com)
- Some same-sex couples ‘wed-locked’ (thegazette.com)
- American Academy of Pediatrics: Gay Marriage “In the Best Interests of the Children” (queeringthechurch.com)
- Divorce Equality (dish.andrewsullivan.com)
- Gay marriage: Where is the ‘damage to Society, Archbishop? (queeringthechurch.com)
- Red State Marriage Equality Train Rolls Along (itsaqueerworld.blogspot.com)
- Why Don’t Conservatives Shame The Divorced? (dish.andrewsullivan.com)
- Adoption and Same Sex Marriage (commonwealmagazine.org)
