Feisty Aphrodite Archives
Lesbians Sue to End Gay Marriage Ban
The following is from 365Gay.com:
A lesbian couple is seeking to overturn Colorado’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, in the first challenge to Amendment 43, reports The New York Times.
Kate Burns and Sheila Schroeder appeared today before a county court judge on a trespassing charge from a sit-in they staged in September when they were refused a marriage license from the Denver Clerk and Recorder Office. Their trial is set for April 14.
Burns works for the University of Denver’s digital media studies program, and Schroeder is an assistant professor of mass communication and journalism studies there. They have been together five years.
Earlier this week, the couple filed a motion with the court claiming that Amendment 43, the state constitution’s gay marriage ban, violated their right to equal protection. The measure was approved by 55 percent of Colorado voters 15 months ago.
“The American system does not allow for the tyranny of the majority,” the couple’s lawyer, Mari Newman, told the Times. “Marriage is a fundamental right, which should be for all Coloradans, not just some Coloradans.”
Twenty-six states have constitutional bans on same-sex marriage. Whether those bans are legal is a question currently being decided by the highest courts of Connecticut, California and Iowa.
