has the jurisdiction to hear a divorce suit by a gay couple who were married
outside Texas where same-sex marriages are banned.
Dallas District Judge Tena Callahan said in the ruling that her court "has
jurisdiction to hear a suit for divorce filed by persons legally married in
another jurisdiction and who meet the residency and other prerequisites
required to file for divorce in Dallas County, Texas."
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott immediately said he would appeal the
ruling in the latest battle over gay marriage in the United States.
"The laws and constitution of the State of Texas define marriage as an
institution involving one man and one woman. Today's ruling purports to
strike down that constitutional definition," Abbott said in a statement.
"The Office of the Attorney General will appeal the court's ruling to defend
the traditional definition of marriage that was approved by Texas voters,"
he said.
The divorce suit was filed in Dallas by an unidentified man and no details
were available on where he had been married. An attorney for the man could
not be reached for comment.
Forty U.S. states have laws explicitly prohibiting gay marriages and the
issue, along with abortion rights, is among the most divisive in America.
Same-sex marriage is banned in Texas by a voter-approved state
constitutional amendment.
A handful of U.S. states, mostly in the northeast, have approved gay
marriage though it is being challenged in Maine.
The District of Columbia city council voted on May 5 to recognize same-sex
marriages performed in states where those unions are legal, even although
gay marriages cannot be conducted in Washington D.C., the U.S. capitol.
