Dese'Rae Stage & Katie Marks, Lesbian Couple Legally Married In New York, To Divorce
By Sarah Scroggins, CBS Local staff
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork.com) - Just a few days shy of their one year anniversary as a legally married couple, Dese'Rae Stage and Katie Marks have announced their plans for divorce.
In June 2011, the couple tied the knot at a pop-up chapel in Central Park on the first day gay marriages were legally recognized in New York. Now, Stage and Marks have made the tough decision to call it quits, becoming the first gay couple to divorce in NYC.
Stage took to her blog to express how the divorce has affected her.
"I do very much feel like the president of the loneliest club in the world," she said.
She said it's been difficult to have something traumatic happen without a group of supporters that understand exactly what she is experiencing.
"The closest thing I can liken it to is losing a parent," she said. "You don't know that kind of pain until you've felt it, and I'm lucky enough to have an amazing support system in my life, but there is a certain lack in the knowing brand of sympathy that I've felt very deeply."
Stage said she hopes someone comes across her blog that understands what she's going through, and they reach out to her to let her know she is not alone.
Micki Gamez, a radio personality for 92.3 NOW in New York City, has been married to her wife, Andrea, for seven years. She said it is sad to see a marriage dissolve, but if gay marriage exists, same-sex divorce will too.
"How do I feel about this divorce in the article? The same way I feel about straight divorces," Gamez said. "It's a shame, especially since I come from a broken, straight home. I wish couples, gay or straight, would remember that marriage is when you pick your mate for life - not just for right now. If you plan on only being with someone for a few years, then don't get married."
Gamez said though her marriage is not perfect, she and her wife work hard at it every day and will continue to do so for the rest of their lives.
"My wife and I have a saying and it goes like this, 'There is no D word in this marriage so that means [divorce is] not an option,' " she said.
Share your thoughts on this story below.
