Marriage Licenses facts

While investigating facts about Marriage Licenses Indiana and Marriage Licenses In Texas, I found out little known, but curios details like:

In 1970, a gay man discovered a loophole in Minnesota law that said gay marriage wasn't explicitly illegal, as long as officials allowed it. He then changed his name legally from 'Jack' to 'Pat Lyn' and fooled officials into thinking he was a woman — successfully getting a gay marriage license.

how marriage licenses work?

After the Supreme Court ruled inter-racial marriage legal, local judges in Alabama continued to enforce that state's anti-miscegenation law (the same state that still refuses to issue same-sex marriage licenses)

What department handles marriage licenses?

In my opinion, it is useful to put together a list of the most interesting details from trusted sources that I've come across answering what year did marriage licenses start. Here are 24 of the best facts about Marriage Licenses Public Records and Marriage Licenses Online I managed to collect.

what court handles marriage licenses?

1. In 1975 a county clerk in Colorado issued a same-sex marriage license, finding no law that forbade it. When a man came to her office to marry his horse in protest, she determined the 8-year-old horse was too young to get married without parental consent and refused the license.

2. In 2014 Charles Manson was granted a marriage license, but the wedding was cancelled after it was discovered that 26 year old Afton Elaine "Star" Burton only wanted to marry Manson so she and a friend Craig "Gray Wolf" Hammond could use his corpse as a tourist attraction after he dies

3. In 1975, two men got a marriage license in Colorado after the clerk couldn't find a law against it. When they applied for a spouse's visa, the U.S. government mailed a letter saying, "You have failed to establish that a bona fide marital relationship can exist between two faggots."

4. There are still 10 counties in Alabama that will not issue anyone a marriage license in protest of same-sex marriage

5. In 1975 after 6 same-sex marriage licenses were handed out in Colorado, a cowboy marched to the County Clerk's office with request to marry his favourite horse. But got his request rejected on the grounds that the 8 year old mare was underage.

6. Montana is currently the only state requiring a blood test for a marriage license. Mainly Montana women under the age of 50 years who seek a marriage license. Blood test is for Rubella. Alternately, the applicants can read and sign an "Informed Consent/Waiver of Requirement of Blood Test form"

7. In 1999 a man tried to apply for a marriage license to his 1996 Ford Mustang GT. He listed the car's birthplace as Detroit, Michigan, the father as Henry Ford, and the blood type as 10W-40. The marriage license was declined.

8. Kim Davis, the Kentucky clerk denying marriage licenses to gay couples, is on her 4th marriage.

9. Deaf-blind woman Helen Keller fell in love with her personal secretary Peter Fagan, a fellow socialist seven years her junior. The couple acquired a marriage license and planned to elope, but Helen's father read about the affair in the Boston Globe and chased Peter out of the house.

Why are marriage licenses required?

You can easily fact check why did marriage licenses require blood tests by examining the linked well-known sources.

Between 1664 and 1967, America had miscegenation laws that prevented interracial marriage, and that the first marriage licenses were intended to allow the government to enforce this law

Before applying for a marriage license in Montana, the woman must take a blood test. The man does not have to. - source

In 1976 an interracial couple in North Carolina were denied their civil marriage license due to religious 'sensibilities'; 9 years after the US Supreme Court had invalidated state bans on interracial marriages. - source

In 2006, Bill Nye married musician Blair Tindall in a ceremony officiated by Rick Warren with music by Yo-Yo Ma. Seven weeks later their marriage license was declared invalid and Bill received a protective order against Tindall. She retaliated by dumping herbicide in his garden.

Some states require a blood test prior to marriage, and can refuse to issue the marriage license if venereal disease is present. - source

When did marriage licenses start?

In 1943 a clerk at the Santa Barbara Courthouse pressed a button under his desk to alert the press when Charlie Chaplin (age 54) and Oona O'Neill (age 18) arrived to request a marriage license. The result was a high speed chase to evade the photographers.

How do marriage licenses work?

The Rowan County administrator (clerk, maybe?) suspended the issuance of marriage licenses to try to avoid marrying gay couples. WTF? She says it's against her religious principles and her right to do so.

In 1943 a clerk at the Santa Barbara Courthouse pressed a button under his desk to alert the press when Charlie Chaplin (age 54) and Oona O'Neill (age 18) arrived to request a marriage license, resulting in a high speed chase through the town.

Kim Davis, infamous for her refusal to issue marriage licenses to LGBT couples, was elected to a higher position by the Democratic Party, a staunchly pro-LGBT party, and is currently being paid $80,000 annually.

Pennsylvania is one of the few states that offers couples the option of a Quaker marriage license, signed only by the couple and two witnesses of their choosing (no judge or officiant required). In 2007, the ACLU helped ensure that couples need not be Quakers to be granted the license.

Kim Davis, controversial county clerk in KY, who refused to issue marriage licenses because of her religious beliefs, has been married four times and had two children out of wedlock...