Same-sex marriage and divorce needs a larger solution then the state’s rights approach. Texas Governor Rick Perry, a potential presidential candidate, recently discussed his views on New York’s legalization of same-sex marriage. Perry said: “You know what? That’s New York, and that’s their business, and that’s fine with me. Our federal government is engaged with far too many things they shouldn’t be involved with at all." The problem with that view is that once it’s one state’s business, it’s every state’s business.

Historically, marriage has largely been left to the authority of the states. States issue marriage licenses, set the age of consent and prohibit certain family relations from entering into marriages. States also make laws regarding the dissolution of marriages, alimony, child support, property division and custody. But the federal government has its say as well. Congress enacted the Defense of Marriage Act, defining marriage for federal purposes as the union of one man and one woman. More importantly, DOMA specifically relieves states of the obligation to treat a same-sex marriage from another state as a marriage under its own laws. And that’s the trouble.

In today’s mobile society, where families easily move across state boundaries for jobs, family, retirement, and education, the failure of another state to recognize a same-sex marriage leaves families in legal limbo and without access to justice if divorce becomes necessary. A spouse, with no other means of support, may be prevented from seeking alimony. A child may be barred from seeing her non-biological parent, to her great detriment. A couple may be forced to remain legally bound to one another, long after they have separated, because their home state refuses to recognize the marriage and allow access to the family court system.

These situations and the devastating effects it can have on a family, demand remedy. I make the case for justice, setting aside the legal arguments of both sides of the same-sex marriage debate, from equal protection to the 10^th amendment to the full faith and credit clause. The federal government must mandate that same-sex families may dissolve their relationships and settle custody disputes wherever they may move in the country. Until the federal government acts, New Hampshire, which requires the person seeking the divorce to have resided in the jurisdiction for one year, must allow same-sex families who have moved from New Hampshire to access the court system to dissolve marriages entered into in New Hampshire.