They couldn’t wait to celebrate on the stoop of their home in downtown Loogootee, Ind., formerly the Kennedy Grocery Store, where Robert Kennedy once stood on his campaign trail in 1968.
More importantly, they said, they could finally merge and share their last names.
But right now, Timothy and Tracy Brown-Salsman are still legally known as a Timothy Brown and Tracy Salsman.
The couple made Indiana history after becoming the first and only same-sex couple to be issued a marriage license in Martin County June 26. But they’re still struggling with getting their last names changed at the Social Security office.
Their marriage license was filed just one day after a federal judge ruled the state’s ban on gay marriage ban was unconstitutional.
This means that while their marriage certificate is valid, their marriage license has fallen into a legal gray area.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit granted the request of Attorney General Greg Zoeller for a stay on the ruling striking down Indiana’s gay marriage ban June 27, leaving the couples who got married in the three-day period in a limbo-state.
After the stay, Timothy and Tracy attempted to change their names on their social security cards and licenses but to no avail.
“Every time we went into the Social Security Administration building, the higher-ups would tell the people behind the desk to put us in a hold folder until further notice,” said Timothy, a coating specialist for a machine shop that provides support to the military, firefighters and manufacturers.
To the couple, this was grounds for gender discrimination.
“I guess between the two of us, there are too many penises to get a name change,” Timothy said.
Both SSA offices they went to, including one in Bloomington, gave them the same response; the SSA is a federal institution that operates according to state laws.
But to the couple, their marriage is legal and they should be issued the name change.
“They have no right to deny us our name change,” Timothy said. “We have a legal marriage.”
They had all the necessary criteria for a name change issuance from the SSA: a completed application, their old social security cards and their marriage certificate.
The issue stems from the stay granted by the Seventh Circuit Court, which has left unclear to some parties what is being addressed.
The couple and the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana say the stay only affects those not given marriage licenses in the short-lived period when the state’s gay marriage ban was unconstitutional.
“It is our position that all marriages entered into in Indiana after Judge Young’s decision and before the stay late in the afternoon on Friday, June 27, are valid,” the ACLU said in a special notice regarding the stay.
“However, that is our position only and may not be shared by the government or private entities that are being asked to recognize the ?marriages.”
The couple believes the stay only affects licensure, not marriage.
Timothy said same-sex couples have been led to believe they can’t get married. This is not the case. The Attorney General has advised clerks not to marry same-sex couples, but that doesn’t stop ?marriages from being solemnized by judges or ordained ministers.
“You just need a license dated between that three-day period before the stay,” he said.
Defense for the claim that the stay affects licensure, not marriages, comes from their county clerk’s filing protocol.
Timothy and Tracy’s marriage license was filed July 1, days after the stay had been issued. This indicated to them that marriages are not affected by the stay.
“If marriages were affected by the stay, why would they allow our license to be filed after the stay was issued?” Timothy said.
Legal experts would argue the stay invalidates the original ruling, reinstating the state code saying marriage in Indiana is to consist of one man and one woman and that same-sex marriages solemnized in states where gay marriage is legal are not to be recognized in Indiana.
“The stay essentially says we’re back to where we were on June 24,” Director of Student Legal Services Randall Frykberg said.
He said it was as if the government had lifted a curtain just a little bit when the gay marriage ban was struck down, and for that period of time between the two rulings, some people had sneaked passed it.
“Then the Seventh Circuit said ‘Sorry, curtain coming back down,’” he said.
Frykberg said he would think same-sex couples have no enforceable rights that were given after the original ruling.
Gay marriage, as of this time, is illegal and any benefits coming from the institution of marriage will have to be put on hold until the appeal has been addressed, Frykberg said.
According to its website, the SSA encourages anyone in a same-sex marriage or non-marital legal same-sex relationship to apply for benefits.
While they encourage people to apply for the benefits, they cannot approve application if the state does not recognize gay marriage, Frykberg said.
The benefits go beyond having one’s last name changed.
For example, their home is under Timothy’s name. Tracy had to be added as a joint tenant of their residence to ensure that he would not be removed from the property in the event Timothy were to die, a protocol that does not have to be followed by opposite-sex married couples.
Other benefits include tax deductions and incentives.
Timothy and Tracy will most likely have to wait until an appeal is addressed and rejected before they can get their names changed, which they expect to happen in August or September.
Until then, they suggest couples with a license get married immediately, get their name change if wanted and, if they cannot get their name changed, file a gender-discrimination complaint with the SSA Regional Office in Chicago and the legal director with the ACLU.
The two met in 1988 at Bloomington’s Bullwinkle’s, a nightclub patronized primarily by the GLBT community that closed its doors in 2006. Between two and three years later, they were “married without a license” in Quincy, Ind.
They have been at the forefront of several gay rights movements as well as advocates for HIV and AIDS awareness.
Both of them were diagnosed with AIDS in 1993, and spent a large portion of their relationship keeping Tracy alive while he struggled with the terminal illness.
In 2005, Timothy became the director of AIDSWatch and would go to places like Indianapolis and Washington D.C. to promote civil rights for people with the disease.
During an interview, Timothy apologized if he had forgotten to share anything that may become pertinent to this story.
“I tend to forget more than I can remember,” he said.
Tracy looked over at him.
“It’s OK,” he said. “It hasn’t been all that easy, and there’s a lot we’d like to forget.”
