Okay, here's a divorce case that promises to be interesting legally. I will watch it with interest.

Dallas same-sex divorce case a first for Texas

07:48 PM CST on Friday, January 23, 2009

By ROY APPLETON / The Dallas Morning News
rappleton@dallasnews.com

In what could further define the rights of same-sex couples in Texas and beyond, a Dallas man has filed for divorce from his husband and longtime partner.

The men married in Cambridge, Mass., in 2006 and later returned to Dallas. But on Wednesday one of the pair, citing "discord or conflict of personalities," asked a state district court in Dallas to void the union in what is believed to be the first such action in Texas.

"We'll see what happens," said attorney Peter Schulte, representing the man who asked that he and his former partner not be identified.

"Personal things could happen to us that wouldn't happen to other people," the man said Thursday. "My company has an extremely low tolerance for publicity."

Texas statutes and the state constitution prohibit same-sex marriages or civil unions. Citing those laws, Attorney General Greg Abbott successfully argued in a Beaumont case that two men could not get a divorce from a civil union in Vermont.

The attorney general said Thursday that he will intervene in the Dallas case as well "to defend Texas law – and the will of the people."

"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."

Schulte said that even though Texas law prohibits same-sex marriage, "that's not what we're talking about here. They want to get divorced just like a straight couple."

The Dallas lawyer said he will argue that the men have that right under Article IV, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution. The so-called Full Faith and Credit Clause provides, in part, that states recognize contracts from other states – that the marriage bond, he said, is universal.

But from another federal perspective, the Defense of Marriage Act recognizes only marriages between a man and woman and allows states to do the same.

Schulte's client could return to Massachusetts and file for divorce after establishing residency.

The man said he shouldn't have to and shouldn't be treated differently from anyone else. "Would you give up your life to do something your neighbors don't have to do?" he asked.

11-year relationship

The marriage, in which he took his partner's surname, "was not entered into lightly," he said. And after 11 years together, the breakup is painful, he said. But "I believe all people should have the same rights to do what they want to with their private lives," he said.

Although the filing in 302nd District Court is apparently groundbreaking for Texas, it's not a first nationwide.

Two women married in Massachusetts filed for divorce in Rhode Island, but that state's Supreme Court rejected the move because they weren't wed there.

Divorces have been sought in Massachusetts since that state's Supreme Court approved same-sex marriages in 2004. The Iowa Supreme Court allowed the dissolution of a civil union granted two women in Vermont.

As same-sex marriages increase, the demand and challenge of divorce "is going to be increasing, both in regularity and geography," said Ken Upton, senior staff attorney for Lambda Legal, a gay-rights support group.

Divorce is a "very sad scenario for anyone," said Cathie Adams, president of the conservative Texas Eagle Forum. "And it's sad for this couple that was given the marriage license in the first place."

She said her Dallas-based group would oppose the divorce because allowing it would be "acknowledging the marriage, which the people in our state have said they oppose."

In other states

Beyond Massachusetts, marriages of same-sex couples are legal in Connecticut, with court actions pending in California and Iowa that could add those states to the list. Civil unions providing rights and responsibilities to same-sex couples are allowed in Connecticut, New Hampshire, New Jersey and Vermont. And domestic partnership laws provide spousal rights to unmarried couples in California, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Oregon, Washington and the District of Columbia.

Marriage equality laws are being drafted in New Jersey, New York and other states. And with the Obama administration and power shift in Washington, the Defense of Marriage Act could be reviewed, Upton said.

Implications

He said such actions and the Dallas divorce filing probably will arouse opposition from family-values groups. If the case ends up with the Texas Supreme Court, justices could interpret the current law to the detriment of gays and lesbians in areas such as employment benefits, Upton said.

And if federal issues are involved, "it has the potential to do damage outside the state of Texas," he said. "It does make me nervous."

The Dallas case "may make some persuasive arguments," Upton said. "It will be interesting to see."