An appeals court on Wednesday will hear the case of two Dallas men trying to end their Massachusetts marriage in Texas, the Dallas Morning News reports:
"The appeal pits Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott against family court Judge Tena Callahan, who accepted the case last fall and ruled that the state's ban on gay marriage violates the U.S. Constitution.
But a voter-approved state constitutional amendment and the Texas Family Code prohibit same-sex marriages or civil unions, and Abbott is arguing that a Texas court can't dissolve a marriage that it doesn't recognize.
Abbott said last fall that he was appealing the ruling 'to defend the traditional definition of marriage that was approved by Texas voters.' … The Dallas men, known only as J.B. and H.B. in court filings, had an amicable separation, said attorney Peter Schulte, who represents J.B. He said the couple, who married in 2006 and separated two years later, simply want an official divorce. Schulte wrote in a court filing that the state's arguments were an attempt 'to mislead the court in an effort to pursue the attorney general's own political agenda.'"
Earlier this month, in a separate case of two women seeking a divorce, a District judge rejected Abbott's attempts to intervene.
