Same-sex Couple Seeks Divorce in Rhode Island

"A lesbian couple married in Massachusetts should have the same right as heterosexual couples to divorce in their home state of Rhode Island, lawyers for the women told the state's highest court Tuesday.

Cassandra Ormiston and Margaret Chambers were married in 2004 after same-sex marriage became legal in Massachusetts. Last year, the couple filed for divorce in Rhode Island.

Rhode Island law is silent on the legality of same-sex marriages.

If the women can't divorce in Rhode Island, their lawyers said the only legal avenue available to them would be for at least one to move to Massachusetts and live there long enough to obtain a divorce.

''It is an absolutely unfair burden,'' Ormiston said outside Rhode Island's Supreme Court. ''It is a burden no one else is asked to bear, and it is something I will not do.''

Lawyers for the women told the Supreme Court the only question to consider was whether Rhode Island could recognize a valid same-sex marriage from another state for the sole purpose of granting a divorce petition." AP, N.Y. Times Link to Article (last visited 10-9-07 NVS)