Gay Marriage No… Divorce Yes in New York

(365 Gay.com, by 365gay Newscenter Staff, 3/31/09)

(Binghamton, New York) Gays and lesbians may not be able to get married in New York – but they can get divorced.

In what is believed to be the first ruling on the issue of gay divorce in the state, a judge in Binghamton, New York has granted a divorce to a lesbian couple.

Justice Molly R. Fitzgerald based her ruling on an executive order issued last May by Gov. David Paterson recognizing the marriages of New York gay and lesbian couples who had gone outside the state to wed. The order directed state agencies to revise their policies.

Lauren Wells and Shari Weiss were married in August 2004, in Toronto Canada where same-sex marriage is legal. But in granting the divorce, Fitzgerald did not allow a division of property. The couple had purchased a home together prior to Paterson’s executive order. At the time they were not entitled to sign the title with equal rights of possession. The mortgage was held by Weiss.

Outside court, the women through their attorneys agreed that Wells would remain in the house for six months, after which it would be the sole property of Weiss. In 2006, the New York Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court, ruled that same-sex couples do not have a constitutional right to marry. It said that the issue, however, could be taken up by the legislature.

Legislation that would allow same-sex couples to marry in New York State passed the Assembly in 2007 but the then-GOP controlled Senate refused to take up the bill. The measure is expected to be reintroduced in the Assembly this year. Gov. David Paterson (D) has said if a marriage equality bill came to his desk he would sign it.

The bill, however, is unlikely to be advanced in the Senate. State Senate Majority Leader Malcolm A. Smith (D) has said he does not have the votes.

“Fidelity” Produced by the Courage Campaign

Attorney Ken Starr and the Prop 8 Legal Defense Fund have filed legal briefs defending the constitutionality of Prop 8 and attempting to forcibly divorce 18,000 same-sex couples that were married in California last year. The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in this case on March 5, 2009, with a decision expected within 90 days.

The Courage Campaign has created a video called “Fidelity” with the permission of musician Regina Spektor, that puts a face to those 18,000 couples and all loving, committed couples seeking full equality under the law.

After you watch the video, please sign the letter to the state Supreme Court and passing this video along to everyone you know. The more people who see this video, the more people will understand the pain caused by the shameful Prop 8 legal proceeding.

NJ Court Recognizes Canadian Marriage for Purpose of Divorce

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Gay marriages performed outside New Jersey are recognized in the state for the purpose of divorce, according to a ruling Friday by a judge deciding whether a lesbian couple married in Canada can split.

The wider implications weren’t immediately clear, but Superior Court Judge Mary Jacobson said New Jersey has a long history of recognizing marriages that are valid where they were performed.

The state doesn’t let gays marry but does allow civil unions. The state Supreme Court has ruled that gay couples have the rights to the same legal standing as married heterosexual couples.

Read the full Story

Lesbian Couple That Launched Gay Marriage in MA Calls It Quits

Our hearts go out to Hillary and Julie Goodridge. Here’s a snippet from an excellent article by Kilian Melloy, EDGE NEW YORK contributing writer.

“Nissenbaum, who is also a columnist for the Herald, is not involved in the legal proceedings, but he offered the opinion that having a common goal, and an internationally celebrated triumph, might have held the relationship together.

“It’s sad, but it’s real. And what a surprise: Gay people are like everyone else.” Which some would say was, after all, the point of marriage equality all along.

Another divorce lawyer, Joyce Kauffman, also offered commentary in a separate article in the same edition of the Herald.

Noted Kaufmann, “Same-sex couples break up for the same reason that heterosexual couples break up,
“They break up because they fall out of love.
“They break up because they aren’t able to resolve their disputes.
“They break up because maybe they got married for the wrong reason in the first place.”
Added Kauffman, “There is no difference.”

READ THE STORY FROM THE EDGE.

Texas Grapples with Gay Divorce

Sadly, it seems that the Rhode Island Supreme Court’s misguided divorce ruling is poised have some company. Texas is now facing a similar situation with a couple that was also married in Massachusetts.

A Texas couple married in Massachusetts are seeking a divorce that the Lone Star State may not be willing to grant. The hitch: the couple are two men.

A Jan. 23 article in the Dallas Morning News detailed that the unnamed couple had been longtime life partners before their 2006 marriage.

But that union is coming to an end: on Jan. 21 one partner in the marriage applied for a divorce under a legal provision allowing for the dissolution of a marriage on the grounds of “discord or conflict of personalities.”

Divorce is never fun and no couple should be forced to live a difficult situation so publicly. Our hearts go out to these two men and we hope that Texas courts will do the right thing.

Full Stories
Texas Grapples with Gay Divorce (Edge)
Dallas same-sex divorce case a first for Texas (Dallas Morning News – warning: only read the article comments if you want to get angry)

Oral Arguments in Divorce Case

I had the opportunity this morning to attend the oral arguments in the Chambers v. Ormiston divorce case involving two Rhode Island women, legally married in Massachusetts, who are seeking to divorce in the Rhode Island court. This was an interesting experience for my “amateur lawyer” brain – not least because, although the two attorneys are opposing counsel in the divorce proceedings themselves, they are on the same side for this part. In fact, it seems anyone who bothers with what the law really says, regardless of ideological belief, thinks that the Court is bound to grant jurisdiction on the divorce to the Family Court.

The thing that makes this a simple question is that Rhode Island has a quirky statute that lets folks get divorced in the RI courts even if their marriage is “void or voidable” – in other words, even if it is as if it doesn’t exist within the state borders. So basically, the question as to whether or not this marriage is recognized is irrelevant for access to divorce proceedings – and the Court can just say so, and open the door for the divorce to move ahead, without even looking at Rhode Island public policy on same-sex couples.

So, the million dollar question is, When can we expect a ruling? And the answer ranges from 60 days to sometime next year. We’ll see…..