Forty-two years ago, two men obtained a marriage license in Wharton County, Texas — in what was one of the nation’s first government-recognized same-sex marriages. 

The Houston Chronicle reported Friday on the marriage of Antonio Molina and William “Billie” Ert (above), which took place on Oct. 5, 1972. 

Ert, who performed as a drag queen named Mr. Vicki Carr, wore a wig, make-up and a dress to the clerk’s office — tricking officials into issuing the couple a license. 

Two days later, Molina and Ert held a ceremony in Houston, with the minister who founded Dallas’ Metropolitan Community Church officiating. But by then their same-sex marriage made national headlines, and the clerk declined to record the couple’s license.

Molina and Ert obtained their marriage license just months before the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a federal lawsuit challenging Minnesota’s same-sex marriage ban, Baker v. Nelson. The high court wouldn’t take up the issue again until it struck down the federal Defense of Marriage Act in Windsor v. United States last year.

Based on the Baker decision, Molina and Ert ultimately lost a legal fight to have the license recorded, and the next year the Texas Legislature passed the state’s first ban on same-sex marriage.  

The Houston Chronicle reports that Molina and Ert’s case “set back the Texas gay marriage movement 40 years while also helping to inspire a generation of civil rights advocates”: 

Much of the general public’s discomfort with the idea was directly attributable to the movement’s early characters, said State University of New York-Buffalo Law Professor Michael Boucai.

“In the Texas case, you have a drag queen. That’s not how gay marriage advocates like to represent their current constituency,” said Boucai. In Kentucky, one half of a lesbian couple who sued for marriage operated a questionable massage service. Two men in Washington State did not actually believe in the institution of marriage, but still thought they should be able to partake. “They’re just not convenient.”

Evan Wolfson, president of Freedom to Marry, told the Chronicle: 

“These early marriage cases really were reflective of the fact that gay people have always wanted it. But they also remind us it’s not just about filing the case in court. You also have to make the case in the court of public opinion.”

But Melissa Murray, a law professor at UC-Berkeley, said:

“What these cases did was to bring gay couples, loving couples to the forefront, out of the closet and out of the shadows. I don’t think you could have a contemporary marriage movement without them.”

After losing their legal fight, Molina and Ert eventually split up. Ert attempted suicide but survived. However, the Chronicle was unable to determine whether he’s still alive. Molina died in 1991. 

Forty-two years after Ert and Molina obtained a marriage license, Texas same-sex couples eagerly await a federal district judge’s decision on a motion that could allow it to happen again. 

Read the Houston Chronicle story about Ert and Molina here. 

While you can still catch Jake Gyllenhaal in theaters as the wiry, nocturnal adrenaline junkie in Nightcrawler, if beefcake is more your taste you’ll have to wait till next year to see Gyllenhaal flex his goods for his lead role in Southpaw.

The first photo over at Deadline shows Gyllenhaal as Junior Middleweight Champion Billy “The Great” Hope, a “lefty champ who loses everything in a personal tragedy and is forced to fight his way to redemption.”

Southpaw also stars Rachel McAdams, Naomie Harris, Forest Whitaker, Victor Ortiz, 50 Cent, Tyrese Gibson, and Rita Ora.

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Here’s something to lift your spirits if you’ve been shopping too much this Black Friday. The L.A. Gay Men’s Chorus took over the city’s Red Line subway singing an updated version of “Deck The Halls”. They released the video today of their holiday-inspired flash mob, showing how they tried to spread some Christmas cheer on the train to North Hollywood last weekend. Some passengers were more thrilled than others by the impromptu performance (check out the shoulder shimmys by one woman feeling the spirit at the 1:34 mark) while other passengers just tried to ignore the festive group (in true subway rider fashion).

The video was actually promo for the group’s upcoming annual holiday concerts at the Beverly Hills Saban Theater, December 13th and 14th. The annual shows are part of the group’s 36th season, which includes the debut of a chamber ensemble piece in memory of Tyler Clementi. Earlier this fall, the chorus was part of another on-line sensation with their featured role in a hugely viral video (5M hits and counting) about actor and aspiring performance artist Shia LaBeouf.

You can watch their new holiday video AFTER THE JUMP…

St. Petersburg, Russia, lawmaker Vitaly Milonov (above) wants to put people in jail if they promote so-called gay propaganda. 

But a member of Russia’s upper house of parliament says Milonov himself should be jailed for his extremist behavior. 

Russian Senator Konstantin Dobrynin (right) has requested both a criminal investigation and psychiatric testing of Milonov — a raging homophobe who was one of the architects of the country’s anti-gay law, the St. Petersburg Times reports: 

Milonov, who is also a church sexton, has been photographed wearing a T-shirt that read “Orthodoxy or Death” — a slogan banned in Russia as extremist. He was also pictured with knives and firearms during “humanitarian missions” to pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine, Dobrynin wrote.

Additionally, the flamboyant lawmaker has denounced various nationalities, including Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars, whom he described as “crazy goats,” “pigs” and “fascist Turkish mugs,” Dobrynin said.

All of this qualifies Milonov for a total of 11 criminal charges, including promoting terrorism and illegal firearms possession, the senator said. The charges carry a combined sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

It’s not the first time Dobrynin has sought criminal sanctions against Milonov, but on two previous occasions the prosecutor general declined to pursue charges. according to Russia Today. Milonov responded to Dobrynin’s latest request by comparing the senator to Judas: 

“For him, everything in Orthodox Christianity is extremism. I don’t want to notice this man,” the politician told RSN radio. “I cannot take this seriously. I have issued a personal spiritual ban for this man. He has probably written more reports on me than Judas had on Christ,” the news site Gazeta.ru quoted Milonov as saying.

Milonov authored the St. Petersburg measure that was used as a model for Russia’s national anti-gay law — and he later called on President Vladimir Putin to enforce the law during the Sochi Olympics.  

More recently, Milonov said he was drafting a bill to close a loophole that allowed same-sex couples to marry in Russia. And after Tim Cook came out, Milonov called for the Apple CEO to be banned from Russia for life, even though he uses Apple products. 

In other words, he’s kind of like Russia’s version of Ted Cruz.