First same-sex divorce in New Orleans comes before first marriage

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The first same-sex divorce in Louisiana was granted about two hours before the first legally sanctioned same-sex wedding took place.

Two New Orleans women, Anna Wellman and Stephanie Baus, who married in Massachusetts in 2009, made bittersweet history by filing for divorce in Orleans Parish Civil District Court on Friday (June 26) -- something they couldn't have done before the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling last week because Louisiana law did not recognize same-sex weddings performed out of state.

The divorce was made official Monday in a proceeding that lasted just minutes and concluded before 11 a.m., without the fanfare and media attention of the wedding ceremony that would take place shortly before 1 p.m. in another courtroom, Judge Paulette Irons said Tuesday.

"I treated them just like I would a man and a woman," Irons said. "My responsibility is to uphold not just the laws of the state of Louisiana, but the laws of the United States and the Constitution. After the Supreme Court ruled, that's the end of the road for me."

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