JACKSON, Miss.–It’s happened before, and they’ve been denied because gay marriage is illegal in Mississippi. Now more gay couples plan on applying for marriage licenses Tuesday, even though an amendment to Mississippi’s constitution defines marriage as between a man and a woman.
A news release from The Campaign for Southern Equality’s WE DO Campaign, says the move comes after “successful efforts by LGBT rights advocates, including CSE, to strip a proposed legislation (SB 2681) of language that would license discrimination against LGBT individuals”.
It’s set to happen at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the Hinds County courthouse.
Amber Kirkendoll, a minister at the Safe Harbor United Church of Christ in Flowood, and her partner Jessica Kirkendoll, are one of the couples who will apply for a marriage license, said the news release.
“We’d like to know that when one of us has an emergency, there will be no questions about the other being by her side. We want to be confident that if ever one of us is unable to make decisions, no questions will arise about who else to turn to. And when asked if we are married, we pray for the day there will be no awkward hesitation, but a very firm and celebratory ‘Yes!’ to anyone who asks!,” said Kirkendoll.
Last summer same-sex couples applied for marriage licenses as part of the WE DO Campaign in Poplarville, Gulfport, Hattiesburg, Jackson and Tupelo.
Launched in 2011, the WE DO Campaign calls for equal rights under federal and state law for LGBT people by highlighting the harms of current state laws across the South that prohibit marriage between same-sex couples, said the news release.
The group says more than 100 LGBT couples across seven Southern states have taken part in the campaign.
