Happily Unmarried

No one likes to think about it on their wedding day, but the fact remains that not every couple who dives happily into marriage will wish to remain married till death do they part. The tragedy of divorce is made more complex for same sex couples who cross state borders to make their vows or move away from a state where same sex marriage is legal to one where it isn’t. The recent DOMA decision will likely have lawmakers scrambling to make some laws consistent at a federal level, but for the moment, the rights given to a same-sex couple in one state will not follow them to another.

There is a couple in Rhode Island who will soon have the dubious distinction of being involved in one of the first, if not the first, same-sex divorces in our state. The couple lived in Massachusetts and was married there before moving to Rhode Island and becoming not so blissfully wed, but they were stuck. Their state of residence didn’t recognize their marriage, and therefore, was unable to dissolve something that didn’t exist. On August 1, when same-sex couples in Rhode Island can finally be legally wed, this couple hopes that they’ll finally be able to divorce.

code: bridal-2013