Texas gay couple marry by Skype

A gay couple have circumvented Texas’ ban on
gay marriage by marrying over Skype.

Mark Reed and Dante Walkup used the internet software
to link to Washington DC,
where a registrar conducted the ceremony.

The pair said they chose to marry in this way
because they did not want to force
their friends and family to travel to another state.

Mr Reed, a board member of LGBT group GetEqual,
said he and his husband went to Washington DC
to arrange the paperwork and ask marriage equality activist
Sheila Alexander-Reid to officiate.

They rented a hotel room in Dallas for their
October 10th ceremony and another in Washington DC
for Ms Alexander-Reid to read their vows.
The couple received their marriage certificate
in the post later.

Mr Reed told Dallas Voice:
“The reason we wanted to do it this way is
because we wanted to have a wedding here in Dallas
with our family and friends.

“It was very important that all of our family came.
It was the first time they actually met,
even though we’ve been together ten years.
If we had to go to DC,
there’s no way we could have had the people there
who we wanted to be there.”

Although Texas has no law banning marriages performed in this way, the couple know that it can be challenged in court. So they are working with lawyers to draw up statutes to solidify the practice and encourage other gay couples to use it to marry.