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 Trial Date Set For Lesbian Couple In Marriage
License Protest
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: October 17, 2007 - 1:00 pm ET
(Denver, Colorado) A lesbian couple has pleaded
not guilty
to trespassing after refusing to leave the Denver City
Clerk's office after being refused a marriage license.
A Denver judge on Tuesday set December 17th for a trial.
Kate Burns, 44, and Sheila Schroeder, 43, began a
sit-in September 24 after being told Colorado's constitution forbids same-sex
couples from marrying. (story)
"We're sorry for the disturbance, but we
won't leave until we're provided with the same rights as everyone else,"
Burns told clerk Stephanie O'Malley.
Burns and Schroeder said they wanted to put the
issue of marriage back before the public and invited the media as they applied
for the license.
O'Malley called police. The women were allowed to
remain in the office until closing time and were then arrested.
They were handcuffed and led out of the building.
Last year Colorado voters approved an amendment
to the state constitution limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples. A
second proposed amendment that would have created a statewide domestic partner
registry was rejected.
The city of Denver and two other municipalities
in the state have their own registries but offer none of the benefits or rights
of marriage under state law.
©365Gay.com 2007
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