Metro Weekly

Not-So-Gay Divorcee: Texas man says gay legal groups offered no help, only negative feedback

“I’m not sure that we really knew what to expect. But there is a Full Faith Credit law that says, ‘If you have a legal event in another state, and you move to Texas, then you’re paying your taxes here. And if you need to split your assets, then we’ll protect you under the state laws of Texas.’ It doesn’t say, ‘If…, and…, when…’ — there are no qualifiers…. I don’t think the end of anyone’s marriage can be celebrated as a victory…. 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’ve 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 my battle over the Full Faith Credit. This is not about gay and lesbian marriage.”

J.B., a gay man who was granted a divorce from his husband in Texas by a Dallas Judge. Texas voters decided to put into place a law that specifically prohibits marriage outside of one man and one woman, so in granting a divorce, the Judge is calling into question the Constitutionality of the 2005 voter-approved amendment to the state’s constitution. Some conservative activists have alleged that the case is a planned gay-rights case that somehow reveals coordinated “judicial activism,” yet J.B.’s lawyer points out that there was never a press conference calling for public attention to the case. (GMA Weekend)

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