Against the wishes of Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott's office, a state appeals court in Dallas has scheduled oral arguments in a high-profile same-sex divorce case. An all-Republican, three-judge panel of the 5th District Court of Appeals is set to hear oral arguments April 21 in the AG's appeal of a district court's October ruling, "In the Matter of the Marriage of J.B. and H.B."
J.B. and H.B., whose full names aren’t being used in the proceedings, were married in Massachusetts in 2006 before moving to Texas in 2008. In January 2009, J.B. filed for a divorce in Dallas' 302nd Family District Court.
A day later, the AG's office intervened in the case, arguing that Judge Tena Callahan couldn’t grant the divorce because Texas doesn’t recognize same-sex marriage.
