City administrators were forced to clarify New York’s marriage-license policy after a transgender couple was turned away by workers who unfairly singled them out by demanding extra identification, officials said yesterday.
Jalea Lamot, 40, and her transgender partner, LaShawn Peterson, 35, an opposite-sex couple in a relationship for 14 years, were turned away from the city clerk’s Bronx office when they attempted to marry in December 2009.
According to legal documents, Lamot and Peterson were told that they could not receive a marriage license unless they presented their birth certificates. State law requires only a valid government-issued identification.
Last month, City Clerk Michael McSweeney issued an interoffice memo calling for dignity and respect regardless of an applicant’s appearance. McSweeney followed that up last week with a formal apology to the couple.
“We sincerely apologize to you both for any inconvenience or embarrassment that resulted from this incident,” McSweeney said in the letter.
Lamot said she is “happy” with McSweeney’s apology, but added, “I would never wish or want another human being to experience what happened to us.”
Additional reporting by Andy Campbell