Lesbians Sue Colorado for Marriage Rights  | News | Advocate.com

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February 13, 2008
Lesbians Sue Colorado for Marriage Rights

A lesbian couple who wanted to marry in Colorado is suing the state to overturn a voter-approved ballot measure that amended the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage. Kate Burns and Sheila Schroeder, of Englewood, Colo., filed the suit in the Denver County court on Monday asking that the amendment be declared unconstitutional, according to the Rocky Mountain News.

"The right to marriage is fundamental," Mari Newman, the couple's attorney, said to the News. "The government can't be telling us who we can and cannot marry."

More than half of voters approved Amendment 43 in 2006, which Schroeder and Burns argue is unconstitutional, in part because it was presented in a religiously motivated manner and has the effect of "establishing religion."

State representative Kevin Lundberg, a Republican who supported the amendment, countered that the women's argument could be applied to any law, since most laws are based on some moral perspective, which he says are derived from religious foundations.

Schroeder and Burns are slated to appear in the Denver County court this week on trespassing charges after attempting to obtain a marriage license in the Denver clerk's office. They were arrested September 24, 2007, for refusing to leave when they were denied the certificate. (The Advocate)

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