A lesbian couple arrested on
trespassing charges in Asheville for protesting Amendment One, North
Carolina's gay marriage ban, has been found not guilty.
Laura Blackley and Cindy Jordan were
arrested on May 11 at the Buncombe County Register of Deeds office
along with six other protesters. The couple, who were legally
married in California and are raising their 3-year-old daughter
Mavis, refused to leave the government office after they were denied
a marriage license.
The pair, along with another activist,
Craig White, were found not guilty of second-degree trespassing on
Wednesday, the Asheville
Citizen-Times reported. The three were among eight people
arrested during the act of civil disobedience. The other five were
awaiting court dates.
The protest, part of the WE DO
Campaign, took place just days after voters approved Amendment One
and was organized by the Campaign for Southern Equality.
“It was powerful to see a North
Carolina court recognize the fundamental right of LGBT people to
petition our government to change discriminatory laws that ban
marriage between LGBT couples,” Rev. Jasmine Beach-Ferrara,
executive director of the Campaign for Southern Equality, told the
paper. “This is one more step in our effort to achieve full
equality under the law.”