Asheville Same-Sex Couple Has First Court Appearance After Arrest In Marriage License Action; Trial Date Set For January 24, 2012.
ASHEVILLE, NC: Accompanied by their lawyers and a group of supporters, Rev. Kathryn Cartledge and Elizabeth Eve were in court today facing 2nd degree trespass charges that were issued when they were denied a marriage license and refused to leave the Buncombe County Register of Deeds Office. Their case was set for trial on January 24, 2012.
On October 14, 2011, Rev. Cartledge and Ms. Eve, together 30 years, requested – and were denied – a marriage license at the Buncombe County Register of Deeds Office in Asheville, NC. Rev. Cartledge and Ms. Eve explained that they would not leave the office until they were served as equal citizens and began a sit-in, during which they read aloud from a list of the more than 1,100 rights that are granted by marriage under federal law. Shortly after the sit-in began, they were arrested by the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office.
Cartledge, an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, and Eve participated in this act of civil disobedience to express their belief that the right to marry is fundamental and that a current North Carolina law that denies them access to the rights granted through marriage is unjust. Their action concluded the first phase of the WE DO Campaign, a two-week action which nineteen other same-sex couples participated in. Coordinated by the Campaign for Southern Equality, the WE DO Campaign will expand to other communities in the South in 2012.
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