http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/09/21/1331341/-TX-woman-denied-driver-license-because-of-her-same-sex-marriage
Connie Wilson, who just moved from California to the Houston area with her wife Aimee and their three children, received a hell of a welcome from the Department of Public Safety (DPS). The couple has been together nine years, and they finally tied the knot last year in California, after which Connie took Aimee's last name. Connie was able to get all of her records updated with her new name, from her California driver license to her Social Security card to all of her financial and medical records. And then, upon moving to the Houston area, she visited the DPS office in Katy to obtain a Texas driver license.
No big deal--when I moved to Texas, aside from waiting in a horrendous line at DPS, getting my driver license was painless. But I also didn't have my name changed to that of my same-sex spouse. Wilson's experience with DPS in Texas, where gays are barred from marriage by both statute and constitutional amendment (just to be safe, you know), has been quite different:
With her California driver’s license nearing expiration, Wilson took her documents to a DPS office in Katy last week to obtain a Texas driver’s license. When a DPS employee noticed that Wilson’s name didn’t match her birth certificate, she produced the couple’s California marriage license identifying her spouse as Aimee Wilson.“Her only words to me were, ‘Is this same-[sex]?'” Connie Wilson recalled. “I remember hesitating for probably 10 seconds. I didn’t know how to answer. I didn’t want to lie, but I knew I was in trouble because I wasn’t going to be able to get a license.”
“She immediately told me, ‘You can’t use this to get your license. This doesn’t validate your last name. Do you have anything else?’” Wilson said. “She told me I would never get a license with my current name, that the name doesn’t belong to me.”
In response to inquiries from the Observer, DPS confirmed that people moving to Texas from other states can’t obtain driver’s licenses listing their married names using same-sex marriage licenses.
“To receive a Texas Driver License or Identification Card reflecting a name change from a same-sex marriage, a court order is required,” a DPS spokesman said in a statement.i can relate to dealing with SS AND DMV i lost my SS card and never renewed my drivers permit exp. 1996 because of my brain surgery for the tumor. i wanted a disability placard for people who take me places and have to park too far away. my doctor filled it out sent it to me i filled out my part and faxed it to appropriate office i checked after a few weeks they had mailed it to the address where i lived for 20 years that was on that 1996 license, i've been where i am now for 15 years but i have to get an ID to get an ID to get an ID. not as egregious as her problem but as exasperating, being as though i served my country in military now have pictured ID from VA APPARENTLY i'm a man without a country.
not discriminate or a bigoted law which in those red states tend to punish those not like them or those they disapprove of when it comes to local gov't practices, that is why we need to be careful who we elect, those who vote because candidate hates everything too need to wake up because everything includes you and your thing. recognize
