Country's First Gay Divorce Firm Opens In Philadelphia
By Kristina Dougherty and Rich Zeoli
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – A Philadelphia attorney has opened what he says is the first LGBTQ divorce firm.
Philadelphia lawyer Conor Corcoran, who bills himself as the nation's first gay divorce attorney, says he is ready to serve gays and lesbians that will need divorces following the Supreme Court's ruling last week legalizing same-sex marriage across the country.
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Corcoran says he celebrated the Supreme Court decision to have marriage equality throughout the United States, but he quickly realized it was unlikely all of the new marriages would end in bliss.
He says that is why he launched a new division entirely devoted to LGBT divorce.
"The genesis of this idea began about a year ago when Judge Jones, out in Harrisburg, legalized marriage for all in Pennsylvania. I was out that night with a couple of friends and I came up with that idea. We were talking about the fact that, at some point down the line, there's going to be a need for gays to get divorced, and I thought wouldn't be funny if that website was called AdamVsSteve.com. Then the year went by and I thought more and more about it, I realized that there really is a certain kind of empowerment and benevolence in taking what was formerly a derogatory term or a denigration and turning it into some matter of empowerment. And it's for a good service. These people are entitled to equal rights just like the rest of us."
He adds, "The whole thing about the sanctity of straight marriage being compromised by the notion of a homosexual union is the most ridiculous nonsense imaginable and it was high time to use some tongue-in-cheek humor and turn the denigrations that have been used against so many of my friends and family members, to flip it a little bit."
The law office's website says it is "proud to be the first law firm in the U.S. to practice in the field of gay divorce, providing Private Client Domestic Services, 24/7 and coast to coast, regardless of your sexual orientation."
Corcoran has yet to receive any requests to assist with a same-sex divorce but is happy to be available for those who will need his services.
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"It was an endeavor that, in good conscience, I had to put out. It was a good idea and a good idea after decades of really oppressive conditions with regard to this kind of thing in the United States."
