A Lesbian couple “married” in California is seeking a divorce in Maryland which stills says “You are not married.”
Never let a manufactured crisis go to waste.
Maryland’s highest court is poised to hear arguments in a precedent-setting case involving two women who married in California but were denied a divorce in Maryland, which does not currently allow same-sex weddings.
The Court of Appeals of Maryland in Annapolis was set to hear arguments Friday from lawyers for the lesbian couple who are seeking to end their marriage. A Maryland judge declined to grant their divorce in 2010, basing his decision on the conclusion that the women’s marriage is not valid under Maryland law.
But lawyers for the women disagree, saying the state should recognize gay marriages performed elsewhere even though Maryland does not allow same-sex weddings at the present time. As a result, the couple should be allowed to divorce in the state, the lawyers say.
Even though Maryland is set to recognize Gay Marriage next year, the precedent set by this case risks forcing states that do not recognize gay marriage to recognize it whether they like it or not. Divorce destroys marriage. Gay “marriage” destroys marriage. Together they make a lethal combination.
April 6, 2012 at 12:52 pm
Even though the current administration refuses to defend it in court, as far as I know, the Defense of Marriage Act is still the law. That would invalidate the lawyer's argument.
April 6, 2012 at 2:41 pm
This WILL end up at the Supreme Court – watch and pray.
April 6, 2012 at 3:09 pm
"Couple"-"we don't want to be married"
State- "you're not married"
"couple"- "you're so mean"
Stae- ??????
April 6, 2012 at 4:01 pm
What Dean said is funny. The truth is often hilarious!!
April 6, 2012 at 6:01 pm
Robert: "Even though the current administration refuses to defend it in court, as far as I know, the Defense of Marriage Act is still the law. That would invalidate the lawyer's argument." The court must recognize their marriage to give them a divorce. This really sounds like a swindle, a Pearl Harbor attack to sink marriage in Maryland and enforce gay marriage in Maryland, other wise why Maryland? Gay marriage denies the immortal, rational soul of the partner, of both partners. Oh, the devil must be smaking his lips, those on his face and the lips on his face on his derrier.
April 6, 2012 at 6:13 pm
So… they want to be legally recognized as not married… wait… I'm confused.
April 6, 2012 at 7:22 pm
I still maintain one of the biggest groups in favor of gay unions are divorce attorneys…Gay couples have a tendency to be wealthier and I am sure the lawyers saw dollar signs right away with a whole new untapped market to peddle their wares.
April 6, 2012 at 9:28 pm
Maryland should simply grant them an annulment, which is a way of saying "You were never married to begin with, babes!"
April 6, 2012 at 11:45 pm
Unless the Catholic Church changes its tune with regards to excommunicating unrepentant malicious marital abandoners, particularly those who live their public and permanent adultery in front of the children of their valid marriages (for those of us fortunate enough to beat the annulment crap shoot that the Catholic Church forces us into against our wills) persecution is just what seems needed to bring the Catholic Church to its knees before its founder who HATES DIVORCE, which is encouraged in order to process the human feed stock into the tribunals in the Catholic Church in America where the system is designed to find nullity however it can and nothing is done to heal a marriage!
The Church has no business at all, opposing gay marriage if it FIRST does nothing to defend valid marriages. Everyone with open eyes sees the duplicity in what is being done.
Our children are being taught that the Church is OK with adultery and all the destruction heaped upon innocent spouses(not perfect spouses) by the openly adulterous pairs who are freely welcomed in the Catholic Church with next to nothing being said or done to bring them to repentance. IT is an outrage!
It is a scandal of huge proportions and endlessly devastating consequences to our kids.
Wake up!
Karl
April 7, 2012 at 12:34 am
Karl's a nut!
April 7, 2012 at 2:09 am
But he knows what he's talking about as do many other faithful spouses who know how to defend their valid marriages in the Church tribunals.
April 7, 2012 at 2:12 am
no- Karl is hurt
April 7, 2012 at 2:37 am
I speak the truth. My hurt is transient. I see others
facing what I barely survived, with no help from
the clergy, who fawn over their adulterous persecutors
and Catholic bloggers are silent, the COWARDS!
I see children losing their faith and being deceived.
Some of my hurt, I deserve for the hurt I caused
but the real hurt is coming upon the Church.
Karl
April 7, 2012 at 2:37 am
No- Karl is 100 % right. when one marries in the Catholic church one promises to abide by its definition of marriage one of which is that it is permanent. no matter if one or the other spouse develops buyers remorse after some years/children later and wants to go find a 'newer" younger model spouse. Catholic teaching is that just as Jesus would never abandon his church so a spouse promises to never abandon their bride( spouse).
Yet many abandoned faithful spouses know well the pain of finding out that the Church they love will not lift a finger to try and admonish the abandoning spouse, and in fact will often offer the "candy" of easy almost guaranteed annulment – a" do-over" of sorts. One can abandon a sacramental vow, abandon the spouse of your youth, abandon children -go find a 'new "family and still get the approval of many clergy in the Amrican Catholic church- still get to be that 'faithful Catholic" – at least in name .
true Charity would be to tell the truth and stand beside the abandoned yet faithful to their vows spouse and without any watering it down let the abandoner know they are in grave mortal sin , hurting not only their soul but also causing harm to their children and scandal to society .
April 7, 2012 at 4:38 am
My pastor told me once that a man and a woman who had no freedom to marry could stand before the altar and pronounce vows until they fell over. It does not make a marriage because of the interdicts and the impediments. In the same manner that a woman can stand before the altar of God and pretend to ordination. That does not make it so. Reality is the TRUTH. Put gay-so called marriage on the ballot in Maryland, as it has been voted down in every state that has put gay marriage on the ballot. Ours is a nation of sovereign citizens. If We, the people, disregard the laws of nature and nature's God from Whom all sovereignty comes, ours will be the wrath of God and all of us will have to bear the consequence.
April 7, 2012 at 7:17 am
Consent of the governed being the basis and all that… It is therefore true that In America; all power comes from below. No wonder that the american "culture" is such a debased crotch-centric quagmire of disputes over nonsense. Eat this and be gods.
April 7, 2012 at 2:24 pm
When so many male/female partners are entering into the sacrament of Marriage under the influence of artificial birth control, there is an impediment that screams invalid.
April 7, 2012 at 4:52 pm
I live in Ohio, which does not recognize same-sex marriage but which somehow recently granted two men a divorce. The story in our newspaper was awful and did not explain how this was even possible, but did say a private judge (ever hear of one of those?) who specialized in mediation cases gave it to them. I can only assume they needed paperwork for something.
April 7, 2012 at 5:24 pm
A lot of us know enough of Karl's tale to know he has gotten the short end of the annulment stick in America. He's not the only one.
And it's part of the larger failure of the Church to fight to defend and promote the institution of (traditional) marriage – marriage as a life-long union that exists for the procreation and rearing of children, and for mutual support. That idea crumbled in the 60's, though it really began to disintegrate once birth control was accepted by the Anglicans in 1930. The necessary connection was severed between sex and procreation, and gay marriage…is only a penultimate result of that severance. Next up: the abandonment of marriage altogether (see Scandinavia).
But too many priests and Church leaders have for too long been reluctant to really drive home those teachings, for the same reason that few canonical tribunals can find marriages they wouldn't annul: it might result in a hit to Church tithes and donations, and generate some seat and anger among the People of God who feel entitled to an annulment/divorce/remarriage/birth control/few or no children. We can't have that, you know.
Annulments are beginning to be tightened up a little, and more priests and bishops (almost always the young ones) are starting to talk about marriage seriously. But we have a long, long, long way to go.
April 7, 2012 at 8:32 pm
When all you hear are lies, the truth sounds nutty.