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RI, USA: Bill Would Legalize Divorce for Gay, Lesbian Couples

Friday, April 6th, 2012

First John Fazzino went to Massachusetts to marry his husband. Then the Rhode Island man had to go back to get divorced. Rhode Island does not recognize same-sex marriage, and it does not allow resident gay couples married in states like Massachusetts to file for divorce. That means people like Fazzino must move across the state line before obtaining a divorce — for a year, in Fazzino’s case.

“I was told the only way was to leave Rhode Island,” said the 60-year-old Providence artist, yoga instructor and garden designer, whose legal address is now a friend’s home just over the state line. “I didn’t have a choice. So now I’m basically a roommate.”

Legislation in the Rhode Island General Assembly would allow same-sex couples who have been legally married outside Rhode Island to file for divorce without leaving the state. Supporters said it’s wrong to force residents to leave to sever the marital knot, even if their union isn’t recognized in their home state. But opponents of gay marriage said divorce could be the first step down a slippery legal road to full marriage rights for gays.

Full Story from Boston.com

Click here for gay wedding resources in Rhode Island.

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Tags: bill, gay divorce, rhode island

UK: Gay Couple’s Divorce to Test Civil Partnership Law

Friday, March 9th, 2012

A case at the Court of Appeal over the splitting of a gay couple’s #4 million assets has made headlines due to the couple’s differing financial situations. Peter Lawrence, 47, and Don Gallagher, 54, had been together for eleven years but dissolved their civil partnership after seven months, The Times reports.

Mr Lawrence is paid nearly #400,000 a year in his role as a City analyst but Mr Gallagher had earned less over his career as a stage actor.

A lower court told the couple Mr Gallagher was entitled to #1.7 million in the dissolution of the partnership, most of which would come from the value of their central London flat. Mr Lawrence is now appealing the case, claiming the flat should not be included in the settlement.

Full Story from Pink News

Click here for gay wedding resources in the United Kingdom.

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Tags: civil partnership, gay divorce, united kingdom

DC: City Council Passes Gay Divorce Bill

Wednesday, March 7th, 2012

City council members in the nation’s capital have given final approval to a bill to make easier for gay and lesbian couples who marry in Washington to get divorced if they so choose.

The bill approved Tuesday would allow gay couples who wed in the District of Columbia to get divorced even if they aren’t living in the city – provided they live somewhere that would not recognize their divorce. Under current law, one member of the divorcing couple has to live in the city for six months before opening divorce proceedings.

Full Story from Edge Boston

Click here for gay wedding resources in Washington, DC.

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Tags: city council, gay divorce, washington dc

Next Up: Battle for Gay Divorce?

Sunday, September 4th, 2011

New York made headlines earlier this summer when it passed legislation legalizing same-sex marriage. Homosexual couples in New York, and nationwide, celebrated the new law.

Understandably, fewer headlines involved another right for same-sex couples — the right to divorce. After all, for same sex couples seeking to spend their lives together in marriage, divorce is not something newlyweds are likely to immediately consider. Yet the ability to obtain a legal divorce is an important right for same-sex married couples.

No hard data exists on the divorce rate for gay couples in states that allow gay marriage. However, a study conducted by the University of California Los Angeles Law School’s Williams Institute found that about 2 percent of same-sex couples dissolve their relationship in any given year, which is approximately the same rate as among heterosexual couples.

Full Story from US Politics Today

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Tags: equality, gay divorce

UK: Gays and Lesbians Less Likely to Divorce Than Straights

Sunday, July 10th, 2011

In 2009, the United Kingdom saw divorce drop to 10.5%. This is an important number, in fact. Since 2005, when civil partnerships were offered in the UK, 50,000 same-sex couples have taken the plunge.

In 2010, 6,385 civil partnerships were registered in the UK, which was a slight increase over 2009. What is more, in 2010, 509 civil partnerships were dissolved, which was a 44% jump from the year before when 353 partnerships ended.

To give you some idea, in 2010, 8% of civil partnerships dissolved, and in 2009, that figure was around 6%. It was noted by the Office for National Statistics in the UK that lesbian couples dissolved their partnerships at a higher rate than gay male partnerships ended- about 3.3% and 1.6% respectively.

Full Story from Lez Get Real

Click here for gay wedding resources in the United Kingdom.

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Tags: gay divorce, lesbian divorce, united kingdom

Patchwork of Laws Complicates Gay Divorces

Friday, July 8th, 2011

Greg and John Rodriguez said “I do” in 2008 in matching white tuxedos before their two young sons and 200 guests — some who flew in from Singapore and London. Palm Springs Mayor Steve Pougnet officiated the $60,000 ceremony.

“A lot of people cried” Greg Rodriguez said. “We both cried.”

They were among 18,000 gay couples who raced to the altar in the four months between the state Supreme Court striking down a same-sex marriage ban and California voters approving a new one.

Full Story from My Desert

Click here for gay wedding resources.

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Tags: gay divorce, laws, patchwork

Argentina: First Gay Divorce Since Marriage Equality Legalization

Thursday, June 16th, 2011

Argentina is about to have its first gay divorce, not quite a year after a groundbreaking law legalized homosexual marriage.

The Argentine Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Transsexuals says the divorce involves a female couple who have only been married since April 20.

Federation president Esteban Paulon says theirs is the first divorce since July 2010, when Argentina became the first Latin American nation to authorize gay marriage everywhere in the country.

Full Story from Edge Boston

Click here for gay marriage resources.

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Tags: argentina, gay divorce, Gay Marriage

TX: Attorney General Fights Another Gay Divorce

Thursday, December 16th, 2010

In the on-going saga over whether Texas can grant gay couples a divorce when the state doesn’t recognize same-sex unions at all, the state’s attorney general’s office argued before a federal appeals court yesterday that the state should be able to refuse the dissolution of a marriage it doesn’t consider valid. Makes sense, no?

If you’re just joining us, recall that there are actually a few gay divorce cases going on in Texas. There’s Jeffrey and Henry Buck (who married in Massachusetts in 2006), who have been fighting to get Texas to grant them a divorce – something AG Gregory Abbott has been working furiously to keep the courts from granting.

The last round, in August, went to Abbot when a federal judge overturned a lower court’s ruling that granted the divorce, effectively keeping the Bucks married. But not married. Confusing! (The Bucks, meanwhile, don’t want to be the posterchildren for gay marriage/divorce.)

Full Story from Queerty

Click here for gay marriage resources in Texas.

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Tags: gay divorce, lesbian divorce, texas

Gay Divorce Also Offers Important Rights, Protections

Saturday, September 4th, 2010

When we look at exuberant wedding photos, we never think, “Oh, good! Now those two can get divorced!” But in fact, the right to a divorce is just as important as the right to marry.

In a charming, poignant essay in the Boston Globe, Jarrett Barrios talks about how marriage rights for same-sex couples also give these couples the right to a divorce, and why that’s so important.

Barrios knows whereof he speaks. As a state senator in Massachusetts, he was one of the first elected officials in the country to marry his same-sex partner. Now, after 16 years together, the couple have separated and are in the process of divorcing. Barrios says he felt like a failure when his relationship fell apart. Happy gay and lesbian couples marching victoriously down the aisle together make a better image of gay marriage than hurt, angry people settling a divorce.

Full Story from Babble

Click here for gay marriage resources.

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Tags: gay divorce, Gay Marriage, marriage equality, same sex marriage

CA: Gay Divorce Bill Passes Assembly, Heads to Senate

Monday, May 17th, 2010

California’s same-sex domestic partners and married couples seeking breakups should find those processes simpler if the Separation Equity Act bill that passed in the state Assembly on Thursday passes the Senate as well.

Some couples are united as domestic partners and as legally married spouses. That is because many domestic partners chose to marry each other when the option became legally available to them. But current divorce law requires them to dissolve each of the unions separately.

According to proponents of the bill, couples who represent themselves in their divorce might not be aware that both processes have to be completed. They are also required to pay a separate fee for each.

Full Story from SF Public Press

Click here for gay marriage resources in California.

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Tags: assembly, bill, california, gay couples, gay divorce, lesbian couples, senate