Myrtle Beach couple denied marriage license because they’re the same sex

Lora Talbot and Benji Herndon knew their request for a marriage license would be denied at the courthouse in Conway Tuesday afternoon.

Herndon is a transgender male. Talbot is a woman. They’ve been together for three years and engaged for two. They also share two children.

Both knew the outcome of their request before they even asked, but said it was harder than expected.

“It was much more heartbreaking than I think either one of us realized,” Talbot said. “We knew they were going to tell us no. we knew what the situation was.”

The couple, along with relatives and friends, went to the courthouse in downtown Conway at 2:30 today. It was about 30 minutes later they had the official word.

The wait, made everything more difficult.

“It prolonged the agonizing fear we had that we were going to be denied,” Herndon said. “Then being handed the piece of paper that said we could not get a marriage license, we could apply for one but we would be denied, it was just heartbreaking. It made it real.”

Herndon said they’re the first lesbian, gay or transgender couple that’s applied for the license, and Talbot said she’s glad they did.

“Somebody’s got to start the ball rolling,” she said. “There are so many families here. We’re not the only ones who need to be a family, who need to be man and wife, who need to raise their children in the security that marriage gives you. God, if not us, who?”

Both said they’re encouraged by the changes nationwide, like in Washington State who recently passed legislation enabling same-sex marriage.

“Hopefully within the next year or two things will change here like they did in Washington State,” Talbot said. “There are so many of us for it. We don’t wake up with some grand agenda to ruin the world. We just wake up wanting the same thing as everybody else.”

Talbot said they’re just like any other couple. They just want equality.

The letter denying their request will soon be framed on their mantle.

Talbot hopes one day they’ll be able to show their grandchildren how they helped South Carolina move towards marriage equality.