CO: Lesbian couple guilty of trespassing

Link: Denver Post

Excerpt:

Sheila Schroeder, bottom right, and her partner Kate Burns sat in front of the marriage license counter after the rejection of their application at the Wellington Webb building in September. (THE DENVER POST | Hyoung Chang)

 

A lesbian couple who staged a sit-in at the Denver Clerk and Recorder's Office after being denied a marriage license was found guilty today of trespassing.

Within minutes of the verdict by an all-woman Denver County Court jury, Judge James Breese sentenced Kate Burns and Sheila Schroeder to 28 hours of community service each and ordered each to pay $41 in court costs.

Breese said he was imposing no jail time because the women conducted themselves in a "rational and calm" manner when they sought the marriage license last fall and during the sit-in after it was refused.

During their testimony today, both women said their reason for seeking the marriage license was their deep love for each other and their religious beliefs.

The sit-in, they said, was to show that they and other committed gay and lesbian couples believe that Amendment 43, passed by 56 percent of Colorado voters in 2006, is unconstitutional.

Amendment 43 defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

"I love Sheila Schroeder with all my heart," said Burns, adding: "Sheila and I are people of faith."

[...]

The women and their lawyer, Mari Newman, said that what the couple was trying to accomplish is the repudiation of laws that limit marriage to heterosexual couples.

But during the trial, Assistant City Attorney Chris Gaddis told the jury to focus on the charge — trespassing — and not on the women's argument that they were trying to change an unjust law.

He said both refused to leave when asked politely by the staff of the Clerk and Recorder's Office and Denver police officers. The police had been told by the women that they planned a peaceful sit-in if the license was refused.

"There are other steps, other avenues, you can use if you want to change the law," said Gaddis. "The system works, the country works, because everyone follows the law."

After the verdict, which was returned after an hour's deliberation, the Englewood couple said they would continue to fight Amendment 43.

"We are talking about hundreds of thousands of people who want to see it changed," said Schroeder.

Added Burns: "We need full marriage equality in Colorado."

[jw]