PROVIDENCE, R. I.—A lesbian couple married in Massachusetts should have the same right as heterosexual couples to divorce in Rhode Island, lawyers for the women told the state’s highest court Oct. 9.

Cassandra Ormiston and Margaret Chambers wed in 2004, soon after Massachusetts legalized same-sex marriages. They filed for divorce last year in their home state of Rhode Island, where the law is silent on whether same-sex marriages are legal.

It is believed to be the state’s first same-sex divorce case.

If the women cannot divorce in Rhode Island, their lawyers said the only legal option would be to move to Massachusetts and live there long enough to obtain a divorce.

They stressed the case has no bearing on whether gay couples can get married in Rhode Island.

“You have a valid marriage in the state of Massachusetts,” Louis Pulner, an attorney for Chambers, told the justices. “No one is asking the court to address the question of whether such marriages would be valid in Rhode Island.”