SAN ANTONIO -- Same-sex marriage has been the law of the land for less than a week but the first same-sex divorce in Bexar County is already underway.
A lesbian couple in San Antonio has been trying to get a divorce since July 2013. They married in Washington D.C. five years ago. But because the courts here in Texas did not recognize same-sex marriage, they didn't allow them to move forward with the divorce, until the U.S. Supreme Court weighed in on same-sex marriage on Friday.
Their 3-year-old daughter is at the center of this legal battle. The little girl was conceived by artificial insemination and born in Texas.
"By the time the baby was six months old, we split," said Allison Lesh, the child's mother.
When it came to their daughter, only the mother who gave birth had legal rights in Texas. The only way Lesh could have legal rights to her daughter, like custody, was to get a divorce. Lesh said it became crystal clear to her the day she left the marriage and tried to take her daughter to dinner. She got a call from the cops.
"The officer said to me, 'I understand the situation, but technically, you have no rights. If you're not back home within 15 minutes, we're going to have to send the state troopers to have you arrested for kidnapping.,'" Lesh recalled.
Friday's decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to make same sex marriage legal nationwide also meant Lesh's marriage is legal in Texas, and she can get a divorce and now has legal rights to her daughter.
Lesh's attorney, Deanna Whitley, said the ruling is a victory for same-sex couples and for the children of same-sex couples.
"What it means is they have the same protection to love both of their parents and the same economic stability that's provided by a two-parent household," said Whitley.
Lesh's divorce will now go through a regular process as any divorce in Bexar County. She said she will finally get to see her daughter tomorrow for the first time in six months.
