The 5th District Court of appeals for Texas has ruled on the gay divorce case. As a refresher, two men who were married in Massachusetts sought a divorce in Dallas County. Judge Tena Callahan ruled that it was a violation of the federal constitution to deny them the right to divorce.
Essentially the appellate court ruled that Judge Callahan did not have the authority to hear the case, stating “[w]e hold that Texas district courts do not have subject-matter jurisdiction to hear a same-sex divorce case.” Lawyer speak for you cannot hear same-sex divorce cases.
Remember, this was not a discussion of gay marriage, it was a discussion regarding the right of two people to divorce who had a valid marriage in another state. Nobody was arguing that gay marriage should be legalized in Texas, simply that two people legally married in another state should be able to divorce in Texas. The attorney general for Texas argued that by allowing gay marriage you were essentially recognizing gay marriage, which Texas does not.
I think it is interesting to note that Tena Callahan is a democrat and all the judges sitting on the Court of Appeal are republican.
In any case, I promised an update and here it is.
