Legally married lesbian couple gets run-around at the DMV
Thu. November 3, 2011 7:31 PM by GoPride.com News Staff
rachel lambert-jolley and charlotte lambert-jolley
photo credit // kerrigan studios by leigh barnes
St. Petersburg, Florida -
Rachel and Charlotte Lambert-Jolley thought they were doing the right thing when they decided to get their Florida driver's licenses changed after they got married in Connecticut.
They called ahead to the DMV, and spoke to a person who told them that as long as they had a valid marriage license (which they did, since gay and lesbian marriage is legal in Connecticut), it would not be a problem.
The women had already changed their social security cards with no trouble at all.
But when they got to the Pinellas County DMV, they encountered a bureaucratic wall.
"You are five feet away from the people in the DMV and everyone starts whispering and talking," Charlotte told WSTP. "It was uncomfortable."
"To have multiple people tell you, 'It's fine, it's fine,' [then] you go in there and think you are good, then boom! It's a slap in the face, pretty much," Rachel said.
Interestingly, once Rachel (who is a reporter for Patch.com) called DMV spokesperson Ann Howard, she was actually advised to try to do an end-run around the system.
"After Howard made sure that our marriage license didn't say 'same-sex' anywhere on it, she suggested we go to the DMV separately," Rachel wrote. "'The marriage license looks no different than any other, so why not try to beat the system and hope an unsuspecting worker doesn't pay attention?' Thanks for the advice, maybe we can try out that idea some other time."
They called ahead to the DMV, and spoke to a person who told them that as long as they had a valid marriage license (which they did, since gay and lesbian marriage is legal in Connecticut), it would not be a problem.
The women had already changed their social security cards with no trouble at all.
But when they got to the Pinellas County DMV, they encountered a bureaucratic wall.
"You are five feet away from the people in the DMV and everyone starts whispering and talking," Charlotte told WSTP. "It was uncomfortable."
"To have multiple people tell you, 'It's fine, it's fine,' [then] you go in there and think you are good, then boom! It's a slap in the face, pretty much," Rachel said.
Interestingly, once Rachel (who is a reporter for Patch.com) called DMV spokesperson Ann Howard, she was actually advised to try to do an end-run around the system.
"After Howard made sure that our marriage license didn't say 'same-sex' anywhere on it, she suggested we go to the DMV separately," Rachel wrote. "'The marriage license looks no different than any other, so why not try to beat the system and hope an unsuspecting worker doesn't pay attention?' Thanks for the advice, maybe we can try out that idea some other time."