TN gay couples try to get marriage licenses but get denied

[n2doc]

Written by
Heidi Hall

Same-sex couples in at least three Tennessee counties tried to get marriage licenses Wednesday, striding into county clerks’ offices, their faces lit up by camera flashes as they made state history.

But because same-sex marriage is illegal in Tennessee, they left empty-handed.

Will Peyton and Jef Laudieri of Nashville said they weren’t surprised by the rejection, just at how much it hurt.

The two met nine years ago in a bar — love at first sight for Peyton, not so much for Laudieri. They moved in together a year later, back when only a handful of states entertained the idea of allowing same-sex marriage.

June’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling finding the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional — and opening a floodgate of potential benefits for same-sex couples — emboldened Peyton and Laudieri. Now they hope to be part of a lawsuit that could force Tennessee to allow their future marriage, similar to suits recently filed in Pennsylvania and Illinois.

more

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20130808/NEWS01/308080042/TN-gay-couples-try-to-get-marriage-licenses-but-get-denied

[theHandpuppet]

1. This leaving it up to the states is bullshit

Didn't folks learn anything from the battles to end slavery and segregation? The Southern states would have to be dragged kicking and screaming to ever accept GLBT civil rights. They're too busy trying to relive the days of their antebellum fantasy world to ever move forward.