US: Ex-wife of anti-gay Texas group leader left him for a woman
Only a few months before Jonathan Saenz became president of the anti-gay group Texas Values, his wife left him for a woman.
In court records obtained by news source Lone Star Q, it is stated that Saenz’s ex-wife was dating another woman when she filed for divorce from Saenz in August 2011.
Saenz’s had a relatively abrupt change in values during the time of his divorce, switching from a socially conservative political figure to one of Texas’s most notorious anti-gay politicians.
While the divorce was pending, Saenz became president of Texas Values after the organisation split off from another conservative group Saenz was involved in.
Texas Values is known for opposing same-sex marriage and non-discrimination laws protecting the LGBT community in the state.
Saenz also personally has voiced his support for the practice of gay conversion therapy.
In her original petition for divorce, Saenz’s ex-wife said the couple’s marriage was “insupportable due to discord or conflict of personalities … that destroys the legitimate ends of marriage and prevents reasonable expectations of reconciliation.”
As the divorce proceeded, a judge granted Saenz’s request that his ex-wife’s girlfriend not be allowed in the presence of the couple’s three young children.
That decision was eventually reversed after Saenz’s ex-wife alleged he was trying to control her by not allowing her girlfriend in the presence of her children, stating her girlfriend was of no danger to the children.
According to court documents, Saenz and his ex-wife each have the right “to direct the moral and religious training of the children” in their shared custody agreement.
