A Mississippi pastor dressed a horse
named Charlotte as a bride to protest a federal judge's ruling
striking down Mississippi's ban on gay marriage.
Last month, U.S. District Judge Carlton
Reeves struck down Mississippi's ban, saying that the 2004 amendment
to the Mississippi Constitution violates the Fourteenth Amendment of
the U.S. Constitution. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New
Orleans is scheduled to review the case next month.
Edward James, pastor at Bertha Chapel
Missionary Baptist Church in Jackson, stood on the median in front of
the federal courthouse in downtown Jackson holding a sign in each
hand as Charlotte grazed on grass.
“Although [the protest] is
ridiculous, so is the same-sex marriage status,” he told The
Clarion-Ledger. “That's the point I'm trying to convey to
Mississippians today, and I'm hoping that Judge Reeves will
reconsider his ruling and that Mississippi will stay a state that
will only recognize marriage between a man and a woman.”
In one hand James held up a sign that
read, “The next unnatural law. Do you take this horse to be your
unnatural wedded spouse to have and to hold? This might even be
possible if the band [sic] on same sex marriage is lifted. 'Where do
we draw the line?'” and in his other hand, a sign that read,
“Marriage is one man and one woman. Anything else is a perversion.”