First U.S. civil-union pair splits up ( Look at this LOL )
After all the fighting to get married they get divorced only 5 months later :( that sucks!!
:joker:
The first gay couple to gain legal status for their relationship in the United States are following the course of many American marrieds -- They're ending in divorce.
Carolyn Conrad and Kathleen Peterson's relationship became official just minutes after civil unions for gay couples became the law of the land in Vermont on July 1, 2000. The two had been together five years prior to their ceremony. They had met on a hiking trip.
Conrad and Peterson refused to comment on why they were asking the Brattleboro court to dissolve their union. However, court records show that Conrad had filed for a protective order against Peterson this week, and that the judge granted it. The record states that Conrad feared for her own safety after Peterson threatened to hurt a friend. She also punched a hole in the wall during an argument this summer. Peterson must now stay at least 100 feet away from Conrad at all times.
Peterson, who was representing herself in the case, did tell a Vermont newspaper, the Rutland Herald, "All I want to say is that the civil union was a big source of pride for me, and now it's not."
The two were the first of many gay couples to seek a legal stamp of approval on their relationships, but they are in the minority when it comes to seeking dissolution of their civil union. As of 2004, 7,549 gay couples have had official civil unions. A little more than 1 percent, or 78 couples, are on record as having asked a court to end those relationships, according to the latest statistics available. In comparison, roughly 50 percent of heterosexual U.S. marriages end in divorce.
Divorce has been a tricky issue for gay couples. Most people granted Vermont civil unions are from out of state; just 15 percent of those in civil unions are actually from Vermont. But only Vermont residents can officially end such relationships.
In one case in 2002, Glen Rosengarten and Peter Downes, who lived in Connecticut at the time, sought to end their legal ties to each other, but since they were not residents of Vermont the courts there could do nothing about it.
However, a judge in Iowa granted a divorce in 2003 to two women who had been joined in a Vermont civil union. Conservatives appealed the decision all the way to the state Supreme Court, saying the ruling was meaningless because the state does not recognize same-sex marriage. The high court, however, this spring refused to hear the case.
So far, the Iowa case is an exception. In general, to dissolve a Vermont civil union, couples have to live there for at least a year.
