A Texas couple on Thursday was arrested
protesting the state's gay marriage ban.
Mark “Major” Jiminez and Beau
Chandler of Dallas refused to leave the Dallas County Clerk's office
after they were denied a marriage license, gay weekly the Dallas
Voice reported.
Chandler crossed out the word “bride”
on the marriage application and wrote “not applicable.”
Chandler said that the clerk who turned
them away “got teary-eyed when I said we love each other and want
to get married.”
After they were refused a license, the
couple handcuffed themselves to each other, clasped hands, shared a
kiss and sat down on the floor at the head of the line.
“This is about not being treated
equal,” Jiminez told reporters.
Chandler said Jiminez had proposed to
him in May: “He made breakfast and I was eating pancakes and found
a ring inside. He asked if I would be his husband.”
The men said they were planning a
symbolic wedding ceremony in September to coincide with Dallas Gay
Pride.
At the end of the day, after everyone
had been cleared out of the building, the men were carted away by
police. (Video of the protest is embedded in the right panel of this
page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)