Couple says clerk refused 'foreign' New Mexico ID for marriage license, asked for passport



LA CRUCES, N.M. – A man said he and his then-fiancee had to prove New Mexico is a state after a District of Columbia clerk denied his driver's license as proof of identity earlier this month.

The La Cruces Sun-News reports Gavin Clarkson, who lives in Las Cruces, and his fiancee attempted to apply for a marriage license at a D.C. license bureau on Nov. 20.

Clarkson said the clerk, however, wouldn't accept his New Mexico driver's license, believing he was a foreign citizen. The clerk allegedly said he would have to provide an international passport to get the license.

"She thought New Mexico was a foreign country," he told the La Cruces Sun News. "All the couples behind us waiting in line were laughing."

Clarkson wrote about the incident on Facebook:




Clarkson said personnel eventually accepted his license along with the marriage application.

Leah H. Gurowitz, director of media and public relations for D.C. Courts, issued the following statement on the situation to the La Cruces Sun News: