OKLAHOMA CITY, March 17, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals has upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit that sought a “divorce” between two women who claimed to have obtained a "marriage" license in Canada.
The court affirmed the trial court’s decision to dismiss the suit because the women failed to produce evidence of their “marriage,” and because Oklahoma courts do not have jurisdiction to grant divorces between members of the same sex.
ADF attorneys represented Speaker of the Oklahoma House Chris Benge, on behalf of the Oklahoma House of Representatives, in arguing that Oklahoma law does not permit divorces for same-sex relationships.
“The government cannot issue a divorce for a ‘marriage’ it doesn’t recognize,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Austin R. Nimocks.
“The people of Oklahoma have made it clear that marriage in their state is only between one man and one woman. The court’s decision was not only the right decision, but it was truly the only decision the court could legitimately make under the circumstances.”
The Oklahoma Supreme Court had already ruled that the lower court was within its authority to dismiss the divorce decree when the trial judge discovered both parties in the case O’Darling v. O’Darling were of the same sex. Yet the high court returned the case to the trial court after the woman who filed the suit, Cait O’Darling, claimed that she didn’t get a fair day in court.
Because O’Darling failed to offer satisfactory evidence and argument in support of her claim for a divorce, the court upheld its earlier dismissal of the case, and the appeals court affirmed that decision Thursday.
Oklahoma has a constitutional amendment that defines marriage as the union between one man and one woman. Voters overwhelmingly approved the amendment by 76 percent in 2004.