A judge recently declared that the ban on same-sex marriage in Texas was unconstitutional. Strangely enough, the case that brought this abut focused more on divorce and child custody than marriage itself.
It began in 2010, in Washington D.C., when two women decided to get married. This was allowed in the District of Columbia at the time, though it was not allowed in Texas. After getting married, they moved to Texas anyway.
Sometime during their marriage, they decided that they wanted to have a child together, and so artificial insemination was used. The child came to term and was born, though it was only biologically related to the woman who had carried it.
Now, those same two women have decided that they want to get divorced. It was through this that the same-sex marriage debate came to light. One of the women said that the law in Texas prevented the divorce from even being legally considered, seeing as how Texas did not recognize them as a couple. She also said that the court could not consider granting child custody to the other woman, as she wanted, for the same reason.
After this, a judge decided that the ban was unconstitutional. While it will still be considered in other courts, the declaration could pave the way for a judge to grant child custody rights to both women.
While this was a strange way for same-sex marriage to begin being debated in Texas courts, it is important for people in the state to follow the case, seeing as how any final decisions could have a huge impact on who is and who is not allowed to seek custody of children in Texas in the years to come.
Source: Think Progress, “The Bizarre Divorce Case That Led A Judge To Declare Texas’ Same-Sex Marriage Ban Unconstitutional” Ian Millhiser, Apr. 28, 2014
