Dallas Judge, TX Attorney General in Verbal Cat Fight Over Gay Divorce Case

Judge Callahan and Karl Banks, an organizer of the “Walk Against Domestic Violence” at Antioch Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church, April 2009/from Judge Callahan\’s website

An unnamed Dallas couple, who married in Massachusetts in 2006, filed for divorce in January after their eleven-year relationship fell apart. When the case was first made public, Abbott announced that he would "defend Texas law - and the will of the people" by upholding the state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, using the logic that if gay marriage wasn't allowed here, surely a gay divorce was also out of the question.

Yesterday, Dallas state District Judge Tena Callahan ruled that said amendment stands counter to a federal constitutional right to equal protection, stating further that her court "has jurisdiction to hear a suit for divorce filed by persons legally married in another jurisdiction."

Abbott fired back with a news release on his website:

"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--despite the fact that it was recently adopted by 75% of Texas voters. 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."

For now, the lawyers are proceeding with the case, and expect to present the finished divorce order for Judge Callahan's signature in a matter of weeks. Dallas attorney Peter Schulte, whose client initiated the divorce proceedings, derided Abbott's countermeasures as an attempt to "mislead this court in an effort to pursue the attorney general's own political agenda"—a nod, perhaps, to the widely-assumed notion that Abbott was (or is) gunning for the Lt. Governor gig, should David Dewhurst step down.

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