Out-of-state same-sex marriage licenses may decrease after Supreme Court ruling

On July 13, 2014, Gregory Strauser and Sarawuth Chaiya, of Wildwood, Mo., obtained a same-sex marriage license in St. Clair County. Two days later, in front of a judge and a couple of St. Clair County Clerk employees, the two men were married under Illinois law during a small, quiet ceremony.

“We didn’t want to make a big deal,” Strauser said.

Strauser and Chaiya were one of the 331 same-sex couples to have a marriage license issued in St. Clair County between June 1, 2014, when the state’s Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act took effect, and June 30, 2015. Of those, 201 couples, or a little more than 60 percent, who entered into same-sex marriages involved at least one person who was from another state.

In Madison County, 106 of the 291 same-sex marriage licenses issued involved couples in which at least one person resided in another state.

Some of those licenses issued were conversions from civil unions.

However, the U.S. Supreme Court ruling last month requiring the entire country to recognize same-sex marriage could decrease how many same-sex couples come from out-of-state to get married in the metro-east.

St. Clair County Clerk Thomas Holbrook said he expects the number of people who come from another state to have same-sex marriages carried out will drop, especially because many of those came from right across the Mississippi River.

For 13 months, Illinois recognized and performed same-sex marriages prior to the Supreme Court decision.

“Now every state has to do it,” Holbrook said. “It’s the law of the land, and everyone should recognize it.”

According to county records, there were people from Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Louisiana, Texas, Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Georgia, Kansas, California, Ohio and Indiana who traveled to St. Clair or Madison counties to enter into same-sex marriages.

Most of those states recognized same-sex marriage after Illinois did so, or now are required to recognize it because of the Supreme Court decision.

Madison County even issued same-sex marriage licenses to people from Germany, where same-sex marriage isn’t legal, and the Netherlands.

“You can’t outlaw love,” Holbrook said.

Holbrook said when couples come in to get their marriage licenses, county clerk staff members don’t ask questions about personal issues. Staff members only make sure people qualify to be married.

“We don’t pry,” Holbrook said. “We did our job. We did what the law of Illinois was.”

Madison County Clerk Debra Ming-Mendoza said prior to the Supreme Court ruling, she and her staff would advise same-sex couples their marriage may not be recognized in their home state, and they could have difficulty obtaining marriage rights.

“We (did) tell them this marriage could end up being void if their state doesn’t recognize same-sex marriages,” Ming-Mendoza said.

However, those concerns didn’t stop her office from issuing the marriage licenses.

“I thought it was an opportunity to assist these folks because it’s now the law in Illinois,” Ming-Mendoza said. “I wasn’t going to be hesitant or make them feel uncomfortable.”

“We sure weren’t going to turn them away,” Ming-Mendoza added.

She also believes the number of same-sex couples getting married from out of state will decrease.

“I think people will get their license in a county or state that is closer, and not go out of town to get married,” Ming-Mendoza said.

She is happy the Supreme Court ruled on the issue.

“It kind of pulls us all together instead of pitting states against each other,” Ming-Mendoza said.

For Strauser and Chaiya, getting married was a statement they wanted to make, even though they had already made a commitment to each other.

The couple, which has been together for 19 years, thought about driving to Iowa, Strauser said, where same-sex marriage became legal in 2009.

They ultimately decided to go to Illinois.

“Illinois has had a lot of trouble, a lot of economic problems,” Strauser said. “I thought (gay marriage) was something that made Illinois stand out.”

Strauser said the couple followed the U.S. Supreme Court case closely.

“You never for sure know what is going to happen,” Strauser said. “It looked like it was going to be allowed, but you just never knew.”

Strauser and Chaiya decided to finally tie the knot because they believed it would help lead to nationwide recognition.

“The more people who did it, the more pressure there would be to make it legal in all 50 states,” Strauser said.

Strauser, who owns an advertising agency, said there still is work that needs to be done for gay rights, including making sure people can’t be fired from their jobs because they are gay.

“That’s why I feel fortunate to be self-employed,” Strauser said.

This story was originally published July 19, 2015 at 9:31 AM with the headline "Out-of-state same-sex marriage licenses may decrease after Supreme Court ruling."