DALLAS (AP) - An appeals court has taken under advisement a dispute over whether two men who wed in Massachusetts -- where gay marriage is legal -- can divorce in Texas, where it's not.
A lawyer for one of the Dallas men told the 5th Texas Court of Appeals yesterday that his client is entitled to a divorce because he had a valid marriage.
But the Attorney General's Office argued, before the three-judge panel in Dallas, that the marriage isn't recognized by the state and the men can't divorce in Texas. Assistant solicitor general Jimmy Blacklock says the men's union can only be voided.
The state appealed a Dallas judge's October ruling that granted a divorce to the men and rejected that state's same-sex marriage ban.
Abbott is also appealing an Austin judge's ruling this spring that granted a divorce to two women.
The court did not give a time frame for a ruling.
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