Maryland Courts Undecided On Same-Sex Divorces

WASHINGTON -- Like most people who get married, Jessica Port didn't imagine she would ever get divorced. But less than a year after her wedding in San Francisco, she was ready to call it quits. A Maryland court decided she couldn't because she was married to another woman.
 
"We filed all the paperwork in Prince George's County and paid the fees," she says.
 
"The judge saved the docket for last and said that because of the unnatural circumstances of the marriage, [we] would have the ruling by mail."
 
Two weeks later, Port and her ex-partner were denied a divorce.
 
In his opinion, the judge wrote that "to recognize the alleged marriage would be contrary to the public policy of Maryland" because the state does not recognize same-sex marriages.
 
Port's lawyer, Michele Zavos, says this is not uncommon.
 
"Most state laws and certainly most government laws are written based on the term 'spouse.' If someone is not married [according to the law], they do not have a spouse and therefore are not eligible for a divorce."
 
Part of the problem is that this case is treading on relatively new ground. Zavos says she can only think of three other instances in the state of Maryland where a same-sex couple attempted to legally divorce. One was granted in Anne Arundel County, and two were denied in Prince George's County and in Baltimore City, respectively.

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