In August 2015, Rowan County, Kentucky clerk Kim Davis, defying the Supreme Court decision that legalized same-sex marriage in the U.S., refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. She would eventually be jailed for contempt of court, yet her defiance pales in comparison to the stifling bureaucrats depicted in the new DVD "No Dress Code Required," recently released by Strand. This documentary was a crowdpleaser when it played at Frameline last year. Its charm lies in focusing not so much on the politics of an ever-controversial issue, but rather on a gay Mexican couple's personal struggle to get married in their local city, an endeavor that becomes a David vs. Goliath-like battle against civil functionaries who would have made any Soviet apparatchik proud.
Fernando and Victor are beauticians, owners of Trucco's Salon in the city of Mexicali, located in Baja California. They have been a couple for a decade. Because they have prepared so many brides for their weddings, they begin to wonder why they shouldn't have one themselves. Hearing that the famous actor Felipe Najera had married his male partner, Fernando sends him a Facebook message. Najera recommends that they marry locally, to become the first same-sex couple in that region. The Mexican Supreme Court had approved same-sex marriages, but many of the provinces balked, often on religious grounds. Most gay couples travel to Mexico City, where it is easier to get married, but, having the support of family and friends, Fernando and Victor want to marry in Mexicali. They hire Jose Marquez, a straight Mexicali lawyer, to represent them as they move through the various bureaucratic obstacles to obtain a marriage license, with both the provincial Governor and the mayor of Mexicali opposing them. One hurdle is the required premarital talk, which, comically, could have taken place in the 1950s. Its discussion, comparing sex to lettuce and tomatoes in a salad, would be laugh-out-loud outrageous if it wasn't based on fact.
The couple presumably having overcome every barrier, the city registry gives them a date. Fernando and Victor make elaborate plans, dressing in matching, stylish white tuxedos, only to arrive at their appointed time to be told they can't marry due to discrepancies on their documents, such as signatures of witnesses not matching exactly. Devastated, we see them dancing with tears running down their faces at what would have been their wedding reception. It will take almost two years of additional, bizarre delay tactics before their fate is decided. These bureaucratic nitpicking schemes have a surrealist ring. They include questioning the authenticity of their birth certificates because they had been issued by a previous Mexican government, faking a bomb hoax to evacuate City Hall, and then forcing the couple to undergo mental testing to determine if they have dementia. Petty, archaic restrictions and legal clauses are used to support prejudice, with the goal of delaying cooperation long enough so the couple will give up the struggle.
What director Cristina Herrera Borquez has done so brilliantly is show the transformation of the couple from ordinary citizens just wanting to get married to mature, stubborn activists, determined not only to fight for their legal rights but also to set a precedent so that future couples won't have to endure the humiliation they suffered. They never lose their composure, despite provocation. Borquez cleverly intersperses this long battle with flashbacks on Victor and Fernando's childhoods, as well as with their courtship, to both amusing and poignant effect, so we hear about Fernando wanting at age 7 to wear his sister's confirmation dress, and years later eyeing Victor in a bar, sending him a beer only to have it refused and returned. More seriously, both of them, knowing they were gay from an early age, were bullied, with Victor distancing himself from others, afraid they would discover his secret. Both men observe how difficult it is to be openly gay in Mexico. Yet it is their incredible bond of love that will sustain them through their nightmare: they never give up on each other. Their adorable, gracious warmth and courage both individually and together in interviews can't help but win over audiences, whatever their personal opinions on marriage equality. Viewers will cheer on Victor and Fernando, but in this triumphant documentary they will also see that cultural change can be very challenging despite civil rights decisions. But one should never underestimate the power of love.