As Jeffrey Buck fights the Texas court system to grant him a divorce from Henry Buck, who he married in 2006 in Massachusetts, he was initially branded by some as a gay rights hero. By forcing the Texas judicial system to give him a divorce, the theory went, he would also force it to recognize his marriage. But yesterday as his attorney Jody Scheske (pictured) argued in front of Judge Tena Callahan — who already ruled in a previous case that the state’s gay marriage ban was unconstitutional — his argument centered around something very un-gay-friendly: By granting Jeffrey Buck a divorce, the state would have one less gay marriage, and that, in fact, would aid the state’s anti-gay stance.
So not only has Jeffrey fought the label of gay rights champion, his attorney — battling against Asst. Solicitor General Jimmy Blacklock, representing the state — is throwing the marriage equality movement under the bus as the tries to get the best outcome for his client. Which is his job. But it’s a pretty terrible strategy for the rest of us.
Unless, of course, what even the Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott fears comes true: Granting gay divorces brings us this much closer to gay marriage in Texas.
How about we take this to the next level?
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Pat
I disagree. By granting the divorce in a Texas court, the court will have tacitly approved that the marriage exists in the first place. In that way, it could be used a precedent in a future case involving a gay couple living in Texas who were married in another state. Perhaps this couple could be suing the State for for spousal benefits if one was a state employee. Our legal system hinges on the idea of courts following the precedent, and this would end up being a fairly compelling argument for the state to recognize an out of state gay marriage since it had already done so in granting a divorce.
The “having one less gay marriage” argument doesn’t make much sense, since in the eyes of Texas, they have no gay marriages now.
Wuestion
I have a friend that she really thought that she wanted to be in a same sex marriage got married in Vermont and still living in texas but now she DOES NOT feel the same as before and does not want to remain being in the lesbian lifestyle at all. In truth this would help some of those who were confused by their sexuality I really feel sorry for her on this and the thing of it is her wife is VERY abusive to her so what can be done on this or is texas going to allow gay divorces. Trust me i did not like that fact she did this and I believe in a man and woman union but these folks do have the same troubles as we do. I am republician and agree with alot out there but if they figure out that they made a mistake there should be a way to get out of that.