Will an annulment be considered if a couple have divorced because the non-catholic spouse said she was gay and hid it from the other partner, even hiding it during the relationship prior to the marriage?
Each annulment case is unique and has its own particular set of circumstances. Simply having a homosexual orientation is not, in and of itself, necessarily grounds for an annulment. However, it could be intimately linked to another ground for annulment. If the individual knew he/she was homosexual, he/she might have entered into marriage without the proper intentions or ability (canon 1095,3). Being deceitful to one’s fiance about such an intimate aspect of one’s person could also affect the validity of the consent of the other spouse (canon 1098).
The situation you describe sounds much like canon 1098.
Can. 1098 A person contracts invalidly who enters into a marriage deceived by malice, perpetrated to obtain consent, concerning some quality of the other partner which by its very nature can gravely disturb the partnership of conjugal life.
This canon states that if deceit was used to obtain marriage consent then such consent is invalid. Canonists have generally considered this to apply to someone who hid their homosexual orientation in order to obtain marriage consent from the opposite sex. However, as I said, each case before the tribunal is its own set of unique circumstances and only a canonist with access to the entire story would be able to give a specific answer for a specific case.
DISCLAIMER: Catholic Answers has turned over the archive to Catholic-Questions.org and no longer owns, manages, or moderates the forums. For additional apologetics resources please visit www.catholic.com.
