Mecklenburg County register ready for flood

of same-sex marriage licenses

By Mark Price
msprice@charlotteobserver.com
Posted: Wednesday, Oct 08,2014


Robert Lahser- rlahser@charlotteobserver.com
Charlotteans Joey Hewell, 34, left, and his partner, Scott Lindsley, 45, plan to apply for a
marriage license. They waited outside the Register of Deeds office most of Wednesday
for an application but left without one .
Robert Lahser - rlahser@charlotteobserver.com
Kallie Mullis, left, and Tyler Gile, both of Chicago, affinn that the information they gave
was true after they filled out an application for a marriage license at the Register of Deeds
office in Charlotte on Wednesday.
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Robert Lahser- rlahser@charlotteobserver.com
Mecklenburg County Register of Deeds David Granberry with a new amended marriage
license form.
David Granberry has not played a crucial role in North Carolina's struggle over same-sex
marriage, but that could change at any moment.
As Mecklenburg County's Register of Deeds, he is the official whom Charlotte's gay and lesbian
couples must visit, once the state allows them to legally apply for a marriage license.
Granberry believes it is inevitable, given a Supreme Court decision not to challenge lower court
rulings that favored gay marriage. But for now, he and all the other cmmty registers in North
Carolina are waiting, not knowing when a judicial order will declare the state ban
unconstitutional.
Same-sex couples have been calling his office for days, asking if they can apply. And at least one
gay couple showed up at 11 a.m. Wednesday with an expectation that state pennission could be
granted.
That couple, Scott Lindsley and Joey Hewell of Charlotte, were still there waiting in the
afternoon when the office closed for the day.
We figure it could happen any minute, and when you've been fighting years for something,
waiting a few hours is no big deal, said Hewell, adding that he and Lindsley have been a couple
for 13 years. Even we are surprised at how fast it's all happening. We've been sitting all day,
keeping up with latest developments on our iPads.
Granberry expects the muchwanticipatedjudicial order to prompt crowds of samewsex couples to
march into his office at 720 E. Fourth St. near uptown, so he has arranged for extra staff and an
extra computer.
A new license registration fonn has been crafted by Granberry, who removed lines referring to
male and female applicants. Instead, the fonn will say Applicant 1 and Applicant 2.
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Some states, such as California, have mu:Itiple choices for form answers, including Bride,
Groom, Neither, he said.
Another license question that will need to be reconsidered, he said, is the one asking for the
bride's maiden name. It can be left blank for the time being, he-said.
Granberry calls his fonn a Band-Aid for something that needs major surgery.
Ifi'd been waiting 20 years to get married, I don't think I'd want a license fonn that has been
scrawled and half done, with things marked out, said Granberry. Some people like to actually
frame their marriage certificate and hang it up. I want them (same-sex couples) to have a form
that is as good as anyone else's.
Technically, the state Department of Health and Human Services calls the shots on what
questions are required for a marriage license. The department will eventually issue an official
license form of its own. That won't happen until after the ban has been officially lifted, officials
say.
Granberry says that is making it tougher for many registers in the state, who don't have the
capability to alter their forms like he's done for Mecklenburg County.
Wayne Nixon, the Cabarrus County register of deeds, said he expects the state will supply his
office with a new license form if same-sex marriages are allowed. His office had received a
couple of calls Wednesday asking about the status ofthe state law after Charleston officials
accepted same-sex licenses.
We're just waiting like everyone else to see when the issue is decided, Nixon said.
Registers of deeds in Gaston and Union counties agreed, and said they were prepared to scratch
out things on the existing forms to comply.
Granberry said it could take the state and various county registers at least two weeks to create,
test and implement a new state fonn.
An example of the points to be considered, he said, is whether a gender selection box should be
added. That could apply not only in same-sex marriages, but also in cases involving transgender
people who are seeking to wed, he said.
He said the changes will impact numerous computer programs run by ~ state, from genealogy
to property records.
Experts are likening the transition to a period when laws against interracial marriage were struck
down. Before that, two types of marriage records were kept in Mecklenburg: one for white
couples and one for blacks, Granberry said.
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It's possible that the state could call for separate forms for same-sex couples, which would
further complicate the situation, said Granberry, who is a Democrat.
His office is already among the busiest in the state, handling 190,496 transactions a year,
including real estate related documents. On average, the office issues 27 marriage licenses a day,
and the number has been steadily going up since the recession ended. The biggest day this year,
Sept. 19, was 63 licenses, he said.
Those forms can be filled out in advance online, and Granberry said same-sex couples can do
that, even before changes are implemented.
Lindsley and Hewell did just that ;on Wednesday afternoon, putting them at the top of the]waiting
list. If licenses are issued Thursday, they could have theirs in as quick as 10 minutes.
The two are planning a formal ceremony, with all their family and friends in attendance. No date
has been set.
We know it's just a matter of time, said Lindsley, who is in the real estate business. If it
doesn't happen today (Wednesday), we plan to be back in the morning. I'll bring my work with
me and we'll sit and wait. We'll be here whenever the news breaks.
Staff writer Adam Bell contributed.
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