Was This Marriage A Sham?

Was This Marriage A Sham?

It doesn't surprise me to hear that a couple is getting divorced. It doesn't even surprise me when they get divorced after only a couple of years. But when the couple's marriage was an attempt to force the courts to recognize their marriage? My, this smells bad. From the February 3, 2009 Associated Press:

BOSTON (AP) - A lesbian couple who led the fight for gay marriage in Massachusetts has filed for divorce. Julie and Hillary Goodridge were among seven gay couples who filed a lawsuit that led to a court ruling making Massachusetts the first state to legalize same-sex marriages in 2004. The couple became the public face of the debate in the state and married the first day same-sex marriages became legal.

The divorce case was filed last week in Suffolk Probate and Family Court and was not unexpected. The couple announced they were separating in 2006.

I mentioned last year that another of the early gay married couples in Massachusetts filed for divorce in Rhode Island, in order to force Rhode Island to recognize gay marriage--by breaking one up. The Rhode Island Supreme Court had the good sense to tell them, "Sorry, we don't know what you are talking about." Does it seem likely that the Goodridge marriage was, from the very beginning, a sham to force approval of homosexuality?