Living Out Loud with Darian

This story is one for the books. The New York Post is reporting the marriage of Hakim "Kimah" Nelson (pictured right) and his husband Jason Stenson(pictured left) who were married on May 26, 2009. The couple managed to obtain a legal marriage license in a state that doesn't allow gay couples to wed. A marriage equality bill is currently waiting to be brought to the floor for a vote in the New York Senate.


The New York Post:


The plucky couple filled out their marriage application online at the Apple Store on 14th Street in May. A few days later, they went to the City Clerk's Office on Worth Street to complete the form and get their marriage license.


Nelson -- who goes by the name "Kimah" and hopes to one day have surgery to become a "full female" -- wore an orange dress and white leggings, his straight, brown hair falling to his shoulders.


The gullible clerk didn't seem to notice that both Nelson, 18, and Stenson, 21, have male first names.


They both had to present identification to obtain the license. Stenson used his state ID card, and Nelson gave a state Benefit Card, which he uses to collect food stamps.


By a fluke, Nelson's ID card has an "F" for female on it, because the official who issued it in April assumed from his appearance that he was a woman.


But Nelson couldn't believe the license clerk didn't ask for better identification.


"I was scared. I thought they would ask for more paperwork from me because I have a male name," Nelson said.


Ten days after obtaining their license, the wedding crashers returned to the office for the ceremony. They were clutching their license and a pair of $10 silver wedding rings they had bought in the West Village. Nelson was in the same orange dress.


They showed another clerk at the marriage bureau their license, and he gave them a number and told them to wait.


Then a third city official, Blanca Martinez, took their IDs and the license. She printed out the marriage certificate and performed the quick ceremony, pausing to ask Nelson whether she was pronouncing "Hakim" properly. A friend served as a witness.


As they walked out of the building hand in hand, Jason said to his new spouse, "I think we just made history."


The bureau is currently deciding what steps to take regarding the license or any others that may have been issued improperly, adding that Stenson's and Nelson's is not valid.


Stenson, who has two children by his former domestic partner, does not consider himself gay. He sees his new spouse as a woman.


For now, the pair is living as a married couple in a Brooklyn shelter.


"People in Albany can say, 'Look, it's already happened, so let's just make it legal,' " Stenson said. "We're all human beings. What makes me and my wife different?"