Bill Ert was a female impersonator who used the stage name Mr. Vikki Karr. He and his partner Tony Molina legally married in Texas in October 1972 and were the first same-sex couple to do so in the state. The state refused to recognize their marriage certificate, and the Molinas began a lawsuit. The Molinas lost their legal battle and the marriage eventually led to state lawmakers rewriting marriage laws to be explicitly between “a man and a woman” in 1973. They moved to Toronto in 1973. In 1974 when Ert was hospitalized, Ontario Health Insurance Plan refused to pay any medical expenses because they were both men, but the OHIP and the couple eventually reached a compromise.
| Names |
Bill Ert (Main)
BE [n74.126]
William Ert (altName)
BE [Lauren McGaughy, “Unlikely gay marriage pioneers tied knot in Houston,” Houston Chronicle, 28 November 2014, http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/politics/texas/article/Unlikely-gay-marriage-pioneers-tied-knot-in-5923174.php] Mr. Vicki Carr (impersonatorName)BE [Lauren McGaughy, “Unlikely gay marriage pioneers tied knot in Houston,” Houston Chronicle, 28 November 2014, http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/politics/texas/article/Unlikely-gay-marriage-pioneers-tied-knot-in-5923174.php] Billie Ert (altName)BE [Lauren McGaughy, “Unlikely gay marriage pioneers tied knot in Houston,” Houston Chronicle, 28 November 2014, http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/politics/texas/article/Unlikely-gay-marriage-pioneers-tied-knot-in-5923174.php] Mr. Vicki Carr (Pseudonym)BE [Lauren McGaughy, “Unlikely gay marriage pioneers tied knot in Houston,” Houston Chronicle, 28 November 2014, http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/politics/texas/article/Unlikely-gay-marriage-pioneers-tied-knot-in-5923174.php] |
|---|---|
| Related Pages | Bill Ert on LGLC
Bill Ert on VIAF |
| Death Date | 1976/09/12 |
| Identities |
Canadian
BG [Lauren McGaughy, “Unlikely gay marriage pioneers tied knot in Houston,” Houston Chronicle, 28 November 2014, http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/politics/texas/article/Unlikely-gay-marriage-pioneers-tied-knot-in-5923174.php] |
| Occupations |
femaleImpersonator
Lauren McGaughy, “Unlikely gay marriage pioneers tied knot in Houston,” Houston Chronicle, 28 November 2014, http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/politics/texas/article/Unlikely-gay-marriage-pioneers-tied-knot-in-5923174.php PerformerLauren McGaughy, “Unlikely gay marriage pioneers tied knot in Houston,” Houston Chronicle, 28 November 2014, http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/politics/texas/article/Unlikely-gay-marriage-pioneers-tied-knot-in-5923174.php |
| Associated People |
Tony Molina
|