Local Same-Sex Couple Demands Equality

Two of the couples who were requesting marriage licenses on Friday, Nov. 1 at the Register of Deeds office in Brevard, both of which were denied. (From left: Amanda Stockli, Megan Boyle, Susan Freeman and Elizabeth Thompson) (Photo courtesy of The Daily Waterfall)

Two of the couples who were requesting marriage licenses on Friday, Nov. 1 at the Register of Deeds office in Brevard, both of which were denied. (From left: Amanda Stockli, Megan Boyle, Susan Freeman and Elizabeth Thompson)
(Photo courtesy of The Daily Waterfall)

Local Same-Sex Couple Demands Equality
By: Haley L. Putnam

BREVARD, NC– Local same-sex couples and their supporters gathered at the Register of Deeds office in Transylvania County on Nov. 1 to demand acceptance of their marriage licenses so they would have a legal and public record of their love and devotion to one another.

Transylvania County residents Elizabeth Thompson and Susan Freeman have been together for over six years and are fighting with the current state law, which doesn’t accept same-sex marriage licenses, nor does it allow same-sex couples to legally be married.

North Carolina voters prohibited the existence of same-sex marriages when they voted for North Carolina Amendment One in 2012. Section one of the bill states, “Marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this State.”

“This is not a political issue. This is a human rights issue,” says Thompson. “We are citizens, we pay taxes, we contribute to charities, we volunteer, we go to church, we raise children and we carry out jobs, duties and responsibilities that help communities, organizations, businesses and our society as a whole.”

According to Thompson, an estimated 80 people participated in the protest outside of the Registry of Deeds office on Friday. All of the individuals were fighting on the behalf of the “We Do Campaign” sponsored by the Campaign for Southern Equality. The CSE’s mission is to achieve marriage equality all across the South and eventually all across the nation.

Thompson adds, “Although we knew we were going to be rejected, we still felt called to make a stand for the same rights, protections and benefits that the opposite sex receive.”

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