Anti-gay bigot’s wife divorces him to be with another woman
The news that long-standing homophobic bigot Tony Perkins, who claims that floods and other natural disasters are a punishment from God for homosexuality, has his home destroyed by a flood, reminded us of this sad but ironic tale from 2014.
Jonathan Saenz is a Conservative activist from Texas who opposes equal rights for LGBT people and campaigns abortion.
For ten years, Jonathan Saenz was married to a woman called Corrine Saenz. During that time, her husband argued that same-sex marriage would lead to incest and polygamy. He also strongly advocated highly controversial reparative, so-called gay cure therapy.
Then in 2014, court records revealed that in 2011 Corrine filed for divorce against her husband, because she was dating another woman.
Saenz saw a deepening of his anti-gay 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.
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.”
In 2013, Jonathan Saenz filed a counterpetition for divorce in May of 2013, accusing his ex-wife Corrine of adultery. 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.
