It was inevitable that with same-sex marriage we would quickly encounter same-sex divorce. In fact, it has been reported that Canada was the first country in the world to grant a divorce to a gay or lesbian couple. It took a bit of doing, mainly because when our marriage laws were amended to include a union between two men or two women, we forgot to update our Divorce Act. Not a problem though. One of our good Ontario judges ruled that the Divorce Act was unconstitutional and with a stroke of a pen, sorted it all out.
So, now divorce lawyers have a larger group of potential clients and we are beginning to see once-happy homosexual couples embrace the misery and expense of divorce. The best example of the floodgates is tennis legend Martina Navratilova’s successful pursuit of a divorce trifecta.
It began in the early 80’s when Martina began living with lesbian best-selling author Rita Mae Brown. Ms. Brown was immersed in lesbian politics and it was Brown’s influence that led to the breakaway of lesbian women from the powerful heterosexual Betty Friedan and her National Organization of Women (NOW). Martina and Brown’s relationship ended after three years together.
It was in 1984 that Martina courted a married, Texan, Methodist beauty queen named Judy Nelson. Ms. Nelson left her husband and two young boys to become Martina’s life partner, or so she thought.
Their completely integrated business and personal lives and exchange of rings in Austria was not sufficient to keep them together and after seven years their relationship exploded in fierce litigation.
Ms. Nelson had one ace in her hand though which was the agreement signed by them that provided that Nelson was to receive one-half of all of the income and property accumulated during their relationship.
Eventually the couple settled out of court with Nelson walking away with a bitter taste in her mouth and several millions of dollars. Ironically, Ms. Nelson’s new partner and advocate during the court battle was Martina’s ex Rita Mae Brown.
Martina’s next conquest was Toni Layton who she married in New Hampshire in 2000. Their relationship was a rerun of Martina’s partnership with Ms. Nelson. They separated in 2008 when Ms. Layton was thrown out without a penny to her name. Martina’s reputation as a leading proponent of gay rights is hanging by a thread as she takes refuge in Florida’s laws which offer no protection to gays and lesbians. With no available legal remedies, Ms. Layton was compelled to sue Martina for emotional trauma and suffering related to her physical removal from their family home.
After a miserly offer of $200,000.00, Layton threatened to air the “dirty laundry” which resulted in a settlement of $3 million dollars.
Yes, she now has another girlfriend that she intends to marry. She’s back to beauty queens. This one is a former Miss Soviet Union.
All the Grand Slams and Wimbledons in the world can’t bring happiness…
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