Texas A.G. Can't Appeal Gay Divorce

Texas attorney general Greg Abbott will not be allowed to intervene in a same-sex divorce case because he sought to become involved only after a district court judge ruled on the case.

A three-judge panel of the third court of appeals in Austin ruled Friday that Abbott cannot get involved in the case of Angelique Naylor and Sabina Daly, a lesbian couple attempting to divorce in Travis County, according to the Austin American-Statesman.They wed in Massachusetts in 2004 and then adopted a son who is now 5 years old.

District judge Scott Jenkins ruled they could divorce in February 2009. The panel wrote that Abbott could get involved only if the suit was intended to declare a statute unconstitutional or if he were to voice and encouragement to enforce a certain law, but not "a private divorce proceeding involving property division and child custody."