Although it was later declared null and void by the Texas Attorney General after a long legal battle, the union made international headlines and became a media sensation.
The failed lawsuit sparked Texas legislation that specifically defined marriage as between a man and a woman, which it had not yet done, and was seen as a large setback for LGBT rights in the United States.
[2] His impersonations included the singer of the same name, Shirley Bassey, Cher, Connie Francis, Eartha Kitt, Melba Moore, and Patti Page.
Both Ert and Molina produced valid paperwork, including voter registrations, Social Security cards, and drivers licenses.
[4] The marriage was conducted in front of a few of the couple's friends by Reverend Richard Vincent, a pastor at the Metropolitan Community Church of Dallas.
[1] After the wedding, Ert was fired from his job as a wig salesman, but continued to perform full-time as Mr. Vikki Carr in local nightclubs.
Several activists were not happy that Ert was a drag queen, and did not want their community to be represented as such, according to University at Buffalo Law Professor Michael Boucai.
Wharton County Clerk Delfin Marek stated that the office did not have the authority to give marriage licenses to two people of the same sex.
He also quoted Section 2.02 of the Texas Family Code, which states:[1] [E]xcept as otherwise provided by this chapter, the validity of a marriage is not affected by any fraud, mistake, or illegality that occurred in obtaining the marriage license.Martin's ruling did not state what would happen if a same-sex couple was wed after obtaining a license, through deception or otherwise; thus, the situation was unprecedented and Cross dubbed it a test case.
Furthermore, Martin stated that since Ert had filled out parts of the document intended for a female—although he never disclosed his sex—he had engaged in false swearing and could therefore face prison time of two to five years.
[1] Cross retaliated by again stating that there was nothing in Texas law that explicitly specified a married couple must be of the opposite sex, and that "if the attorney general would read his own opinion, he would find that it didn't require one of the applicants to be a woman.
[2] The failed lawsuit was seen as a huge setback to LGBT rights in the U.S.[2] It also caused a firestorm among Texas legislators, at a time when there was already turmoil in the legislature as a result of the Sharpstown scandal.
[3] These state legislators worked to change the language of the law to specify marriage as between "a man and a woman" instead of simply between "two persons" under 63R House Bill 103, which passed almost unanimously.
[1] By the same time in 1975, Ert had recovered and went back to performing, but put on his final show on October 24 of that year at Ursula's, a lesbian bar in Houston.