Texas Supreme Court to consider same-sex divorce
The Texas Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether two gay couples who married in Massachusetts can obtain a divorce in Texas.
The court agreed to consider the issue on Friday, report the Austin American-Statesman and the Associated Press. Texas voters nixed same-sex marriage in a 2005 state constitutional amendment.
Lawyers for the gay couples cite the U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down a law banning federal benefits for same-sex married couples. According to one of their briefs, “Any Texas law that targets same-sex couples, seeking to ‘impose inequality’ on them by treating their legal marriages as ‘second class,’ is unconstitutional.”
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott counters that the Supreme Court decision allows states to determine the legality of gay marriage. ““And Texans have spoken clearly,” he wrote in a brief.
