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The Rhode Island Supreme Court
Tuesday heard arguments in a case on whether a lesbian couple legally married in
Massachusetts has the right to divorce in Rhode Island. In Chambers v.
Ormiston, Rhode Island residents Cassandra Ormiston and Margaret Chambers
are seeking to end their 2004 Massachusetts marriage. Lawyers for the
couple argued Tuesday that if the divorce is not permitted in Rhode Island, the
couple's only recourse is to move to Massachusetts and establish residency for a
divorce in that state, which lawyers said would be an unfair burden.
Lawyers for each side stressed that the case does not consider whether an
out-of-state same-sex marriage is valid in Rhode Island, rather focusing only on
the parties' right to divorce.
In September 2006, a Massachusetts court ruled that same-sex couples from Rhode
Island must be allowed to wed in Massachusetts because Rhode Island does not
expressly prohibit same-sex marriage through its state constitution, statutes or
appellate court decisions. In February, Rhode Island Attorney General
Patrick Lynch issued a nonbinding advisory letter saying that Rhode Island will
recognize same-sex marriages of state employees performed in Massachusetts.
Lynch said that same-sex employee partners married in Massachusetts would be
granted the same benefits as heterosexual married couples.
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