Love hurts
Turns out gay divorce is pretty much just as acrimonious as straight divorce. In 2010, Melissa Etheridge, a singer/songwriter, split from her longtime actress wife Tammy Lynn Michaels. The two married in 2003, though not explicitly legally. It was a “commitment ceremony”, which is really more like a party and doesn’t set any legal claim to marriage. The two registered themselves in a domestic partnership with the state of California, which carries a different set of rights and obligations than marriage. Michaels gave birth to a set of twins in 2006, further cementing their bond. They unfortunately missed the deadline to get married legally in the short period of time when California permitted gay marriage in 2008, which would have made this much less business-like. However, since their breakup in 2010, the two have been in a contentious divorce-like fight about the dissolution of their partnership, which was finally resolved yesterday. And if you thought business partnerships were rough, just imagine it when children and spite are involved.