The happy couple, Jessica and Nick Fulgham
Jessica and Nick Fulgham of Olive Branch, MS, were married on September 18, 2014 in Madison County after over a year of dating. After planning their wedding and finally becoming husband and wife, they shared their wedding video on Facebook so that their friends and family could share in their joy. Instead of being met with love and well wishes, they found that not all of their family was happy about this union, when Jessica's cousin, Robby Rikard, Pastor of First Baptist Church of Lyman located near Gulfport, expressed his outrage over this union claiming "biological fraud" had been committed.
Nick Fulgham, who is a transgender male, has spent the last four years of his life transitioning from female to male. He started his transition in 2010, before having met his wife, and was legally declared a man by the state of Mississippi on July 11, 2014. It was at this time when the couple began planning their wedding, as legally, the two now had the right to marry as one man and one woman under law.
The claims of outrage being displayed by Mr. Rikard stem from his clear misinterpretation of law, and (as it is often the case when dealing with Mississippi ministers) a lack of basic common sense. He is claiming that the couple who were married last week are, in fact, lesbians who have found a loophole in the Constitution which has allowed them to violate the sanctity of marriage.
He has now taken his claim to Mississippi based hate group, American Family Association, who of course, has taken this story to the height of logic and ethics. They broadcasted an interview with Mr. Rikard, in which they shared his outrage over "Big Gay's attempt to undermine the Constitution". The all-knowing Bryan Fischer expressed his concern over why organizations such as HRC are not celebrating this victory of finding a way to work around the law, while Rikard stated his desire to stand up as Christians and conservatives against this blatant defiance of law. They even placed a copy of the couple's marriage license on a video that was posted to their website, this document not only shares the names of this couple, but contains the home address where they live with their three children.
Throughout the interview, in true AFA style, they gave the proof that everything being done in this situation by this couple, was completely within the law, and saw to it that they debunked their own breaking news first. They explained the process in which a person transitions with such scientific accuracy- "You find a doctor that supports this treatment, go get one shot of some sort of hormone and then you're off to the DMV where prest-o-change-o... now you're a man".
Clearly shock was the theme of the day at American Family Association.
Today, I spoke on the phone with Jessica about this situation when she said, "This whole situation is a mess. Blood is supposed to be thicker than water, that's what we always heard growing up; also we were told to love with our hearts not our eyes, I feel like all of that has been a lie; in this situation, I had my own blood single my husband and me out for "biological fraud ". I feel like instead of love and excitement from certain family and friends, it's been a nightmare. I wouldn't want anyone to go through this especially in Mississippi. They have made our marriage sound like a sham instead of the truth. That truth being our marriage is built of love for each other. The love everybody dreams of finding in their lifetime and I was lucky enough to have found this love."
The Mississippi Gulf Coast Rainbow Center located in Bay Saint Louis is planning at this time to host a protest of this church near Gulfport in order to show support to this famiky and with hopes of educating the public on marriage laws as well as transgender issues with the state of Mississippi.
Tue Sep 30, 2014 at 10:37 PM PT: The Mississippi Gulf Coast Rainbow Center, in partnership with The Dandelion Project and The Spectrum Center, will be hosting a wedding reception to celebrate the love and bravery of this couple.
It will take place on Saturday, October 25, 2014 at 6pm at The Spectrum Center in Hattiesburg, MS.
The event can be found on Facebook at this link- www.facebook.com/events/981545988529534
To anyone who would like to show support for this couple can donate here- www.gofundme.com/4Nick-amp-Jessica
Wed Oct 15, 2014 at 10:58 AM PT: Jessica Fulgham shares her thoughts on the situation that her cousin has created here, in her first Daily Kos diary-- http://www.dailykos.com/...
Wed Oct 15, 2014 at 10:58 AM PT: Jessica Fulgham shares her thoughts on marriage and the situation that her cousin has created here, in her first Daily Kos diary-- http://www.dailykos.com/...