Yes, I did mean Mass!....I had just sent a email to someone in Minn and had " Minn" on the brain!! LOL! I stand corrected.
There was a divorce granted to a couple that had one of the Vermont Civil Unions by a Texas Judge in March of 03. The Texas AG Gregg Abbott asked Judge Mulvaney to set aside his ruling because Texas law does not provide for civil union dissolution and divorces cannot be granted to same sex couples. “Because these two men were never married under either Vermont or Texas law, they cannot legally petition for divorce under the Texas Family Code,” he said. “The court’s final decree of divorce is void as a matter of law.”
Mulvaney’s original decision was based primarily on the U.S. Constitution’s full faith and credit clause, which requires states to honor marriages performed in any other state, among other legal certifications.
A bit more about the Vermont Civil Union.....
Town clerks issue civil union licenses. After a judge, justice of the peace, or member of the clergy certifies the union, couples are entitled to more than 300 state provided benefits including hospital visitation, victim’s compensation rights, inheritance rights, family leave benefits, adoption, public assistance, state tax benefits, and marital communication privileges. The law does not apply to federal benefits like Social Security. According the to Vermont Health Department 5,405 couples have been joined in civil union since the landmark law went into effect two years ago. Of those couples, 4,585 were from outside Vermont.
[Note: you can get a dissolution in Vermont but it requires residency which takes 6 months]