One of the most commonly made arguments for expanded gambling in Texas is that as long as we don’t have casinos, Texans will travel to neighboring states to spend their gambling dollars there. Well, that same argument can be made for same sex weddings, too.
More than 3,000 same-sex couples have married in Oklahoma since overturning the ban on gay marriage. Many in Oklahoma and Tulsa counties, but one Texoma town has become a hot spot for gay weddings, and it’s doubled the number of marriage licenses issued.
Thousands of names are bound in these leather books and by law of marriage at the Bryan County Clerk’s office. The records from 1904 are written in columns sorted by bride and grooms’ name.
The stack gets bigger each year and with October’s court ruling legalizing gay marriage — even bigger yet.
“Since we started issuing same sex marriage licenses it’s probably nearly doubled the number of licenses we issue every month,” said Donna Alexander, Bryan County District Court Clerk.
She said she does not think extra staffing will be needed to rush.
Oklahomans for Equality surveyed most of the state, and found Bryan County issues a disproportionate number of marriage licences to gay couples like Carla Nelson and Liz Blackwell.
“We had to come here because in Texas, they do not support the gay marriage,” Blackwell said.
Her story is becoming the norm.
“We’ve had some local couples, but most of them are from Texas,” Alexander said.
Durant is a quick drive for those in love from the Lone Star state, where a ban on same sex marriage stands.
There’s a seal-the-borders joke in there somewhere for the professional homophobes, but I’ll leave it to them to work it out. You’d think Oklahomans of all stripes would be happy to be stealing so much business from Texas, but apparently some of them just can’t abide that kind of fortune. One hopes that the Fifth Circuit and/or the Supreme Court will make this kind of road trip unnecessary soon, but in the meantime, if you just can’t wait, the flowers on the prairie where the june bugs zoom will be there to greet you.
I sense a remake opportunity here.