Denver lesbian couple guilty of trespassing in marriage protest

A jury of six women on May 7 found a lesbian couple guilty trespassing after the couple refused to leave the Denver City Clerk's office when the pair was refused a marriage license. Kate Burns, 44, and Sheila Schroeder, 43, were sentenced to 28 hours of community service and were both ordered to pay a $41 fine. Burns and Schroeder where arrested in 2007 when they refused to leave the Denver Clerk's Office. "These are two courageous women who stood up for their love and to speak out about a law that's unfair," attorney Mari Newman told the court, noting that a generation ago similar protests were staged by interracial couples protesting a ban on their marriages. The assertion drew an objection from the Denver city attorney and an admonition from County Judge James Breese to the jury that "This is a trespass charge. Whether the law is a good law is not an issue in this case." The city prosecutor in his opening statement said that the women intended to break the law and that they had invited the media to a news conference prior to entering the clerk's office. Burns and Schroeder began their sit-in after being told Colorado's constitution forbids same-sex couples from marrying. "We're sorry for the disturbance, but we won't leave until we're provided with the same rights as everyone else," Burns told clerk Stephanie O'Malley at the time. Burns and Schroeder said they wanted to put the issue of marriage back before the public. O'Malley called police. The women were allowed to remain in the office until closing time and were then arrested. They were handcuffed and led out of the building. In 2006 Colorado voters approved an amendment to the state constitution limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples. A second proposed amendment that would have created a statewide domestic partner registry was rejected. The city of Denver and two other municipalities in the state have their own registries but offer none of the benefits or rights of marriage under state law.