Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott will
appeal the divorce of a lesbian couple.
The Texas attorney general's office,
whose motion to intervene in the case was refused by Travis County
District Judge Scott Jenkins, confirmed to Newsweek
that the state would appeal.
Sabina Daly, 41, of San Antonio, and
Angelique Naylor, 39, of Austin, were married in Massachusetts in
2004. The couple later moved to Texas, where they built a home
restoration and renovation business and adopted a now four-year-old
son.
The women were granted a divorce on
February 9. The next day, Abbott attempted to intervene in the case,
but Judge Jenkins refused, saying that while both parties had yet to
sign off on the final decree, oral judgments are final in Travis
County family court. Therefore, the state could not intervene in the
case.
“His appeal is a politically
motivated attack and attempt to wear me down financially by running
up my legal bills,” Naylor told the magazine.
News of the action comes just days
before the 5th District Court of Appeals will hear a
similar case, also appealed by Abbott's office. The hearing will
take place Wednesday at 2PM in Dallas.
The court will rule on whether two men
– known only as J.B. and H.B. – who married in Massachusetts can
legally divorce in Texas. Abbott argues that the marriage should be
“voided,” which would essentially nullify the marriage as
invalid.
Abbott says he is concerned that a gay
divorce would force the state to recognize the existence of gay
marriage.
“A divorce is an ending or a
termination of a valid legal marriage,” Abbott said. “In this
instance there was no valid legal marriage recognized by the state of
Texas. Texas can't have a faulty precedent on the books that
validates an illegal law.”
Judge Jenkins asked Abbott not to
appeal the divorce, saying the Dallas case would decide the matter.
A sentiment echoed by Naylor: “I …
feel that his appeal of my case is an egregious misuse of state
resources when there is already an almost identical case already set
for a hearing in the 5th court of appeals next week.”