‘Poster couple’ for same-sex marriage files for divorce

When California briefly legalized gay marriage in June 2008, Robin Tyler, a Jewish activist, and Diane Olson were among the first to be wed. They were among the original plaintiffs to sue the state, pre-Prop. 8, for prohibiting same-sex marriages, and Gloria Allred officiated their ceremony.

So, you would expect them to be celebrating on the heels of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirming of a lower court ruling that Prop. 8 is unconstitutional.

Instead, they are getting a divorce.

MSNBC, which called Tyler and Olson the “poster couple” for gay rights, reports:

“We’re human and we went through difficult times,” Tyler said. The marriage ran its course, she said.

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The right to marry wasn’t meant to guarantee that gay couples would live happily ever after, Tyler said, but to provide a basic human civil liberty.

Tyler said her marital problems were no different than if the two parties had been a man and woman. Gays and lesbians shouldn’t be held to a different standard when granted the same civil rights as everyone else, she said.

To quote my old boss paraphrasing Chris Rock, “gay couples deserve the right to be just as miserable as the rest of us.”

Not that I actually agree with the premise that marriage makes folks miserable.