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It took more than five decades, but George Harris, 82, and Jack Evans, 85, got married Friday morning.
Harris and Evans received Dallas County’s first same-sex marriage license from Dallas County Clerk John Warren, who acted in defiance of a Thursday message from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton telling county clerks to wait before issuing licenses in the event of the Supreme Court legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide.
Paxton’s office, Warren said, “does not trump the highest court in the land.” He’s asked the state for new forms, he said, ones that offer more than binary gender choices, but hasn’t received a reply. Until he does, Warren told same-sex couples gathered at the Dallas County Records building that they can edit the forms themselves.
After asking for, and failing to receive, a senior discount on their marriage license fee, Harris and Evans did just that before paying $91 for their license, signed personally by Warren.
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“Is this when you kiss the bride?” Evans asked Warren after being handed the license.
Harris told him he was jumping the gun.
Evans wouldn’t have to wait long. State District Judge Dennise Garcia, a member of Harris and Evans’ church, married the couple immediately in a nearby courtroom. After the brief ceremony, the room, filled with couples waiting their turn, burst into applause.
“Love rules,” Harris said. “I hope we can let the conservatives see us and know we are not a danger to society”
Asked about honeymoon plans, Harris said he was going home for a nap.
THIS IS WHY:At 11:53 a.m., 82yr old George Harris & 85yr old Jack Evans were married in Dallas http://t.co/V314aceO6Z pic.twitter.com/UhNzoayp1H
— Kristen Bell (@IMKristenBell) June 26, 2015