Tag Archives: same-sex divorce

Straight ally talks to reporters

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David Bowling
David Bowling

Earlier this month, David Bowling was at Kay Bailey Hutchison’s office asking her support for ENDA. This week he was in front of the George Allen Courts Building talking to reporters who were there covering the same-sex divorce case.

Bowling is not gay. He’s a straight ally. He’d get straight married and he’d get straight divorced. But equality is important to him. He thinks his gay and lesbian friends should be able to get lesbian married and gay divorced and other people’s relationships don’t affect him. What does affect him is the attorney general interfering in someone else’s private life.

When asked by one reporter why he was there protesting Attorney General Greg Abbott’s actions in this case, Bowling was very clear.

“It is unconstitutional,” he said.

“They were actually married in Massachusetts so if they do recognize this divorce then they are recognizing gay marriage,” one reporter said.

“Beautiful!” Bowling said.

—  David Taffet

Newsweek on how it ain't easy for gay couples to become ex's in Texas — or anywhere else

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Angelique Naylor was recently granted a divorce from her wife in Austin. But she fears Attorney General Greg Abbott will appeal the decision.
Angelique Naylor was recently granted a divorce from her wife in Austin. But she fears Attorney General Greg Abbott will appeal the decision.

Last week I got wind that an unnamed major media outlet was looking for a same-sex couple trying to get a divorce. Coincidentally, when I heard this, I had just gotten off the phone with Jennifer Cochran, the attorney for Angelique Naylor, a woman who was recently granted a divorce from her wife in Austin. I sent Cochran’s e-mail address to my contact, and just like that a week later, we have this article from Newsweek. The article uses the Austin case to illustrate the tremendous difficulties faced by same-sex couples who want to divorce, but the reporter also talked to Pete Schulte, one of the attorneys in a gay divorce case in Dallas. In fact, as the article points out, it was the Dallas case that inspired the Austin couple to seek a divorce after they unsuccessfully sought to settle their affairs through other legal means. And it’s the Dallas case, in which oral arguments are set for April 21 before the 5th District Court of Appeals, that some believe may reach the U.S. Supreme Court:

As for Angelique Naylor, she and her lawyer, Jennifer Cochran, are counting down the days until the 30-day window expires for the Texas attorney general to appeal her divorce. Cochran also worries that a negative decision in the Dallas case could potentially overturn Naylor’s divorce. “These couples are already going through three times the expense and headaches,” she says. More gay couples are likely to move to Texas, she adds, and Austin has become a popular destination for all Americans: “This is an issue that is not going to go away.” Naylor, however, expects the attorney general to intervene. “It’s an election year, and apparently attacking gay people is a good thing to throw resources at. But in my heart and mind I’m divorced, no matter what. I’ve closed that chapter of my life.”

—  John Wright

Another Texas district judge tells AG Greg Abbott to go stick it in a gay divorce case

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Can you show me where in the Ten Commandments it says anything about gay divorce?
Can you show me where in the Ten Commandments it says anything about gay divorce?

As you may have heard, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott really likes sticking his nose in other people’s business. Last year Abbott tried to intervene in a same-sex divorce case in Dallas, and Judge Tena Callahan told him to go stick it somewhere else. Abbott, apparently a sore loser, has appealed Callahan’s decision to the 5th District Court of Appeals, which will hear oral arguments in April. In the meantime, an Austin district judge on Wednesday told Abbott essentially the same thing. From The Houston Chronicle:

Abbott’s deputies had argued in court filings that Angelique Naylor, 39, and Sabina Daly, 42, may not be legally granted a divorce because Texas law defines marriage as between a man and a woman. Naylor and Daly were married in 2004 in Massachusetts, where gay marriage is legal. They returned to their home in Austin after their marriage and adopted a son who is now 4.

During a hearing, state District Judge Scott Jenkins questioned Abbott’s decision to pursue the case, noting that his office is involved in same-sex divorce litigation in Dallas that is already on appeal. That case, Jenkins said, is positioned to provide legal precedent on the legality of gay divorce. He suggested that a delayed disposition in the Travis County case could affect Naylor and Daly’s son.

But do you really think Abbott cares about the impact his involvement could have on this 4-year-old boy? How much you wanna bet his office appeals this decision, too?

—  John Wright

'Daily Show' to lampoon gay divorce case

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Comedy Central’s The Daily Show with Jon Stewart is working on a segment about Texas’ first same-sex divorce case.

The Daily Show‘s Laura Swisher contacted Dallas Voice last month seeking potential sources.

Swisher told me today that a Daily Show crew was in Dallas last week filming for the segment. She said they interviewed the plaintiff in the divorce case, “J.B.,” along with his attorney, Peter Schulte.

The crew then traveled to East Texas to interview right-winger Rick Scarborough, the former Southern Baptist pastor who heads Vision America.

“I think we got good material from everybody, and I think it’s a really interesting case, so it was fun to kind of explore,” Swisher told me. “It’s a great story, just on the face of it, so we’ll have some fun with it.”

She added that the segment likely will air sometime after the New Year.

—  John Wright

Plaintiff in Dallas divorce case: 'This is not about gay and lesbian marriage'

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The plaintiff in Texas’ first gay divorce case appeared on “Good Morning America Weekend” on Sunday along with his attorney, Peter Schulte. The plaintiff, who’s asking to be identified only as “J.B.,” again insisted that the divorce isn’t a “test case” designed to further LGBT equality.

GMA host Bill Weir: “Gay marriage advocates are celebrating this as an interesting way to get the whole issue in front of state supreme courts and possibly the U.S. Supreme Court. How much of that motivated you here?”

J.B.: “From the beginning, I have said this is not a test case, I’m not the poster child. In reality, for 10 months, there have been two people on the plane, the pilot and myself in the cabin alone. If anybody else had wanted to bring their cause to the table, they could have been there. Some of the greatest negative feedback that I’ve gotten has been from the gay and lesbian community, the legal community in the gay and lesbian community specifically. So you know what? You can’t just jump on when you want to and claim your stake. … This is not about gay and lesbian marriage.”

—  John Wright