Texas Judge Rules Gay Marriage Ban Is Unconstitutional

Despite years of fighting for same-sex marriage rights, it has taken a gay divorce to get a Texas judge to declare unconstitutional the state’s ban on gay marriage.

judgecallahan1

After 11 years with his husband, a man identified only as J.B. wanted out. The pair married in Massachusetts in 2006 and then returned to Dallas. And that’s where things got fuzzy: J.B filed for divorce in a state that doesn’t even recognize same-sex marriage. So while Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott stepped in to try to keep the divorce case out of Texas courts, District Judge Tena Callahan (pictured) said the case still fell into her jurisdiction, and accepted it — and followed up with a ruling that not only can the two men divorce, but Texas’ gay marriage ban (approved by voters in November 2005) and the Texas Family Code (approved by lawmakers) violate the U.S. Constitution. (Callahan’s ruling only says she can hear the divorce case; the case itself has yet to be heard.)

[ Queerty ]