How very ... odd.
The Beaumont Enterprise: Beaumont men divorce, believed a legal first for area: What is likely Jefferson County's -- and perhaps the state's -- first same-sex divorce was granted earlier this week, even though Texas law does not recognize same-sex marriages. Judge Tom Mulvaney of the 279th District Court signed the divorce decree. He said it was a first for him. Russell Smith, 26, and John Anthony, 34, both of Beaumont, traveled to Vermont in February 2002 to get a license of civil union. The couple quit living together four months later and divorced on grounds of insupportability.
One wonders why it would be necessary to have a legal dissolution in Texas of a contract that Texas does not recognize to be valid. In any other state but Vermont, that civil union is just an interesting piece of paper, nothing more. Any business partnerships and properties that they held together would have had to be handled separately, in order for Texas to recognize that the partnerships and property were held jointly in the first place, and anything that happened with the civil union itself wouldn't affect that.
A puzzlement.
Posted by iain at March 13, 2003 10:45 AMComments
