Equality is a basic human right

Lesbians denied wedding at Mississippi museum

gaywrites:

A lesbian couple planning their commitment ceremony in Mississippi have found the venue of their dreams - but the venue won’t have it. 

Ceara Sturgis and Emily Key want to have their ceremony at Masonic Hall at the Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum in Jackson, Mississippi, a state-owned venue that routinely hosts heterosexual couples’ weddings. But the museum has a policy banning same-sex couples from marrying there because marriage equality is not legal in the state. 

The Southern Poverty Law Center sent the museum a letter demanding they change their policy or face a lawsuit. The museum’s argument is that they are merely abiding by the rules, which state that they cannot use their facilities for activities that aren’t legal. 

The letter from the Southern Poverty Law Center alleges the policy violates the First Amendment and the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment for viewpoint discrimination and differential treatment, respectively.  The ceremony also wouldn’t require the state to recognize the couple as legally married, the SPLC points out.

“As a mother, I have dreamed of giving my daughter the wedding that she desires, and I want her to be able to get married in her hometown in front of our family and friends,” said Veronica Rodriguez, Sturgis’s mother. “We are not asking Mississippi to recognize Ceara and Emily’s relationship, although it should. We are just asking that they have the opportunity to hold a ceremony in a public place – the same as other couples.”

The same as other couples. Why is this so hard to grasp? 

Source: gaywrites