MISSISSIPPI: Court Refuses To Grant Divorce To Lesbian Couple

Via the Associated Press:

A Mississippi judge on Monday refused to grant a divorce to a lesbian couple who got married in California, saying the marriage wasn't recognized under state law, according to the woman who filed and her lawyer. Lauren Beth Czekala-Chatham, who filed for the divorce in September in north Mississippi's DeSoto County, said in a telephone interview Monday that the judge seemed sympathetic and that she plans to appeal the ruling. Czekala-Chatham, a 51-year-old credit analyst and mother of two teenage sons from an earlier straight marriage, said she was "a little bit disappointed." "I would have liked to have had the divorce, but either way he ruled, it was going to be appealed," she said.

The divorce request was opposed by Mississippi's state attorney general, a Democrat. Right-to-divorce cases are pending in other states.