Most Americans know what it’s like to have a frustrating experience with government paperwork. So imagine how much greater the frustration must be when it involves confusion over the status of a same-sex marriage in Texas.
That’s the situation Houston mayor Annise Parker, who is legally married to another woman, says she found herself in earlier this week. Her daughter had applied to the state’s Department of Public Safety (DPS) to take a driving test; but Parker says the department rejected her application because she had written on the form that she had two mothers.
Parker explained the situation over Twitter on Thursday afternoon:
Daughter needs drivers test. Has all docs, some in MomA name, some MomK, but w/ birth cert showing both. DPS says can only be from 1 mom!-A
— Annise Parker (@AnniseParker) October 24, 2014The confusion was apparently resolved by the next day. On Friday, Parker tweeted that bringing a different set of documents to the DPS cleared things up. Parker’s daughter now has a drivers license.
A spokesperson for DPS denied the initial dispute had anything to do with the fact that the applicant had same-sex parents.
“All individuals applying for their first Texas driver license must provide a variety of documents to prove their identity, Social Security Number, U.S. citizenship or lawful presence status, and Texas residency. In this case, the adult applicant did not initially present sufficient documentation to prove residency,” DPS press secretary Tom Vinger told the Huffington Post. “Once she provided the required documentation, she was able to complete the transaction. There is no indication that any delay in the process was related to same-sex marriage.”
Ned Resnikoff is an urban policy analyst, researcher, writer, and editor. His byline has appeared in a variety of publications, including the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Dissent, and The Nation. He writes the newsletter Public Comment, which can be found at publiccomment.blog.