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Texas Court: Gay Couples Can't Divorce

Legally marry elsewhere? No divorce here

By Kate Schwartz,  Newser Staff

Posted Sep 1, 2010 6:51 AM CDT
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(Newser) – First it accidentally banned straight marriage: Now Texas has officially banned gay divorce. A state appeals court ruled yesterday that gay couples who legally marry in other states cannot get a divorce in Texas. The ruling follows a judge's October 2009 decision to allow two Dallas men who were married in Massachusetts to get a divorce. The court of appeals decision also said the state's same-sex marriage ban was constitutional, reports the AP.

"A person does not and cannot seek a divorce without simultaneously asserting the existence and validity of a lawful marriage," read the decision. "Texas law, as embodied in our constitution and statutes, requires that a valid marriage must be a union of one man and one woman, and only when a union comprises one man and one woman can there be a divorce under Texas law."

If this couple were Texan, married somewhere else, and wanted to divorce, they're out of luck.
If this couple were Texan, married somewhere else, and wanted to divorce, they're out of luck.   (AP Photo/Adam Lau)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 29 comments
midget_farmers
Sep 1, 2010 10:58 PM CDT
I lived in Austin for 12 years but left once I found out it was in Texas....
Faith1952
Sep 1, 2010 5:14 PM CDT
good, another glitch in this weird crap... one man and one woman.... period.... anything else should be handled as a business partner... don't throw your sexual preference in our faces...
Operation
Sep 1, 2010 5:05 PM CDT
By making this a law and banning gay divorce they are simply acknowledging that they gay marriage is valid. Otherwise they would not even see this as an issue because they would simply state that the marriage was not valid and therefore no divorce is needed. By saying that divorce is illegal, they are saying the marriage is valid, they are just banning divorce for people of same sex. Perhaps they should just take note of what they are doing, and open up gay marriage/divorce since they are already acknowledging that they current ones are valid.

 
gay marriage • Texas • gay divorce • Texas gay marriage • Texas gay divorce

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