From left, Mark Phariss, Bexas County Clerk Gerry Rickhoff and Vic Holmes
Mark Phariss and Vic Holmes, the Texas marriage equality plaintiffs from Plano, got their marriage license in San Antonio last week.
The couple decided to apply in the same office where they were originally denied their license. Bexas County Clerk Gerry Rickhoff personally issued the license.
Phariss said Rickhoff, a Republican, told them, “I am glad to be on the right side of history.”
In 2013, Phariss and Holmes applied and were denied licenses in the Bexar County Clerk’s office. Their co-defendants, Cleo DeLeon and Nicole Dimetman, wanted their out-of-state marriage recognized by Texas. The two couples sued and in February 2014, the Texas marriage law was declared unconstitutional. That ruling was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in the Obergefell v. Hodges decision in June 2015.
Phariss and Holmes will be married in November. Phariss said they will not be wearing white.