What do you get when a gay Texan files for divorce, when he married someone in Massachusetts?Confusion.
If this case ends up in the Texas Supreme Court, these gentlemen won't have a prayer. They have a snowball's chance in hell requesting a divorce in such a hostile, conservative environment... especially from a marriage that Texas doesn't recognize as legal anyway.
Herein lies the conundrum of the current gay marriage movement in the United States. One state doesn't have to honor another state's laws and values. You marry someone in Massachusetts, move to Arizona, and you could have one hell of a time getting a divorce if things go awry.
Maybe it's best that there is no divorcing in gay marriages? Perhaps we would take them seriously and critically soul search before entering a gay marriage. Maybe this is a way to really show heterosexuals how it's done right -- take a vow until death do us part, and truly mean it. Hmmm... then again... homicide and suicide rates are high enough as it is.
first of all congrats on the word... conundrum. I know one other person byside myself use the word. And that was my Nursing Instructor. I do not know if it will be aloud or not. But I do agree if one state says yes the others should as well.
ReplyDeleteRay
Hopefully, we'll live to see yet another moment to savor -- the day that gays are respected on the federal level.
ReplyDeleteIt's going to be a hard fight... that's for sure -- especially here in Texas.
"Maybe this is a way to really show heterosexuals how it's done right -- take a vow until death do us part, and truly mean it."
ReplyDeleteAs my late husband and I said when we plighted our troth: "Murder, maybe - but divorce, never!" lol
However this case points up a very big problem: TX couples who might be thinking about running off to Massachusetts, Connecticut, Canada, or wherever to tie the knot need to take a long, hard think about it - and talk to an attorney before they pack the first bag.
Marriage is a civil contract (so are civil unions and domestic partnerships); being stuck in one with no possibility of getting out could have some major bad repercussions down the road, in lots of unforeseen ways. I'm talking your money, your property, your credit rating, your car, your house, your insurance and pension and bank accounts, guys. Love doesn't always last, but contracts do, until dissolved by a court. TX courts won't give gay divorces because they don't recognize gay marriages in the first place.
Which sucks big time. Let's cross our fingers and get to work, and hope that by the end of the next 8 years, the stupid laws and attitudes will have changed so it's not such a ridiculous catch-22 situation for us gayz.