Clerk stalls U.S. marriage over ‘foreign’ New Mexico ID

LAS CRUCES, New Mexico — A District of Columbia clerk and a supervisor refused to accept a New Mexico man’s state driver’s licence as he sought a marriage licence because she and her supervisor believed New Mexico was a foreign country.

Gavin Clarkson told the Las Cruces Sun-News it happened Nov. 20 at the District of Columbia Courts Marriage Bureau as he tried to apply for a marriage licence.

After approaching the clerk for a licence and showing his New Mexico ID, Clarkson said the clerk told him he needed an international passport to get the marriage licence.

Clarkson said he protested to a supervisor, who also told him that he needed a foreign passport.

The clerk finally concluded New Mexico was a state after Clarkson objected three times. The clerk granted the licence to Clarkson and his fiancée.

“She thought New Mexico was a foreign country,” Clarkson said of the clerk. “All the couples behind us waiting in line were laughing.”

In a statement, the D.C. courts system acknowledged the staff error to the Sun-News.

“We understand that a clerk in our Marriage Bureau made a mistake regarding New Mexico’s 106-year history as a state,” Leah H. Gurowitz, spokeswoman for D.C. Courts, said in an email. “We very much regret the error and the slight delay it caused a New Mexico resident in applying for a D.C. marriage licence.”