By KRWG News
Texas – A Texas judge has cleared the way for two Dallas men to get a divorce, ruling that Texas' ban on same-sex marriage violates the constitutional guarantee to equal protection under the law.
The Dallas Morning News reports that a Dallas district judge's Thursday ruling finds that the court "has jurisdiction to hear a suit for divorce filed by persons legally married in another jurisdiction."
The Texas attorney general has argued that because Texas doesn't recognize gay marriage, its courts can't dissolve one through divorce. Voters approved a state constitutional amendment banning gay marriage in 2005.
Attorney General Greg Abbott says he'll appeal the ruling.
Peter Schulte, an attorney for the unidentified man who filed for divorce, says he and his client are "ecstatic."
___
Information from: The Dallas Morning News, http://www.dallasnews.com
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.