NATIONAL BRIEFING / TEXAS

A judge has cleared the way for two Dallas men to get a divorce, ruling that the state’s ban on same-sex marriage violates the constitutional guarantee to equal protection under the law. District Judge Tena Callahan ruled that the court had jurisdiction to hear the case even though the marriage was performed elsewhere.

Texas Atty. Gen. Greg Abbott argued that because the state doesn’t recognize same-sex marriage, its courts can’t dissolve one through divorce. Voters approved a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage in 2005. Abbott says he’ll appeal.

Peter Schulte, an attorney for the plaintiff, told the Dallas Morning News that he and his client are “ecstatic.”