A Florida married gay couple ordered to
change their names or risk losing their driving licenses has filed a
suit challenging the state's ban on gay marriage.
Daniel and Scott Wall-DeSousa received
the warning from the Florida Department of Motor Vehicles roughly a
week after they talked with local media about how they legally
changed their last names using their New York state marriage license.
According to The
Orlando Sentinel, the men on Tuesday asked U.S. Magistrate
David A. Baker to order state officials to recognize their
out-of-state marriage. Defendants in the legal challenge include the
Florida Department of Motor Vehicles, its executive director Terry L.
Rhodes and Republican Gov. Rick Scott.
“I find it slightly offensive that
this state will not honor a little document from another state,”
said Scott Wall-DeSousa. “If this were a lien or a judgment or any
other legal document, not only would this state accept it, but it
would also enforce it.”
While four state judges and a federal
judge have already declared Florida's ban invalid, the DeSousas'
challenge is the first filed in a Central Florida court.
Daniel Wall-DeSousa lost his driving
privileges after he refused to reapply for a drivers license using
his former name.
“I made the decision I would rather
give up my driving privileges than my identity,” he said.