R.I. lawmakers debate bills allowing gay couples to divorce
PROVIDENCE, R.I.—Rhode Island should amend its laws so gay couples legally united in other states can divorce here, which would end the legal stalemate for a lesbian couple stuck in a marriage they want to end, a lawyer told legislators Wednesday.
Attorney Lou Pulner's client, Margaret Chambers, married Cassandra Ormiston four years ago in Massachusetts, the only state that recognizes same-sex marriage.
But Rhode Island's Supreme Court ruled in December that the couple, who live in Rhode Island, cannot divorce here because lawmakers have never defined marriage as anything but a union between a man and a woman.
The House Judiciary Committee is now debating several bills pertaining to gay unions, including two proposals that would allow same-sex couples to get divorced in Rhode Island, which does not recognize gay marriage or civil unions.
"They have a valid marriage contract," Pulner said. "And they have a right to get divorced if they're miserable and they don't want to be part of each other's lives anymore."
The state Supreme Court's ruling has left Chambers and Ormiston with few options. After failing to win a divorce in the state's Family Court, Pulner said he intends to ask a Superior Court judge to divorce the couple during a court hearing Thursday morning.
Ormiston has said she plans to relocate to Massachusetts. She could file for divorce in a Massachusetts court after living in that state for one year. She was angry that several state lawmakers left Wednesday's hearing before she could speak.
"Why is it that you people -- well, the few of you who are still here -- why is it that you feel you can discriminate against me?" she said.
Several critics of gay marriage urged lawmakers to reject a slate of bills that would permit gay marriage, allow same-sex couples to enter into domestic partnerships giving some of the rights of marriage and allow them to divorce.
Daniel Harrop, a psychiatrist at Brown University, said children are best served when they are raised by their biological mothers and fathers.
"Changing the definition of marriage, changing the public policy will have significant cultural changes and affect our children," he said.
The committee did not immediately vote on any of the bills.
