Sample South Carolina driver's license
Julie McEndowny has twice had her driver's license application rejected in South Carolina because DMV employees refuse to
accept the law:
Attorneys for Julie McEldowney of Lexington County say she legally changed her name with the Social Security Administration after marrying her wife in the District of Columbia earlier this year.
Armed with her marriage license and federally-issued paperwork reflecting her name change — documents, her lawyers write, that many couples frequently use to change their information on state-issued cards — McEldowney went to the South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles to get a license with her married name.
But, according to court filings, the DMV has twice rejected applications to have her married name on her driver's license. This exclusion, McEldowney's attorneys argue, violates her constitutional rights and is discriminatory based on her sexual orientation. The lawsuit asks a judge to order state officials to allow McEldowney to get a license with her married name, and to rule that the DMV's actions were unconstitutional.
Another couple already has similar pending lawsuit in South Carolina. In Texas, the daughter of Annise Parker, Houston's openly gay mayor was
initially denied her license application last week. Are the red state DMV's the last line of defense for equality-hating bureaucrats?