Six LGBT couples are planning to apply for marriage licenses in South Carolina in an effort to protest the state's ban on same-sex marriage.
As the Associated Press is reporting, the couples will arrive at the Greenville County Courthouse knowing full well that their requests will be denied, but instead hope to call attention to what one woman described as the "fundamental unfairness" of her state's gay marriage ban. Three couples are scheduled to try for marriage licenses on Tuesday, while another three will arrive on Wednesday.
"For the three years we've been together, we've been through a good amount. This totally validated the fact I want to be with her. I want to get married and live with her the rest of my life," Alyssa Weaver, a nursing student, said. "If we can make it through all we've been through so far, why can't we be married and spend the rest of our lives together?"
Misha Gibson, another participant, told local CBS affiliate News Channel 7: “Growing up thinking about the person you're going to marry, and then you meet that person, and realize that you can't here in the state we call home. That's disheartening.”
The protest comes at a particularly opportune time: as The Guardian points out, the bid coincides with as the Republican party's presidential hopefuls -- most of whom are vocal in their opposition of same-sex marriage -- gather in South Carolina ahead of the state's primary, scheduled for next Saturday.
Still, Greenville officials told The Guardian that it will be business as usual. "We will very politely explain to them that South Carolina law prohibits the license of marriage to same sex couples," said probate judge Debora Faulkner.
State law explicitly stipulates that marriage must be between a man and a woman, after a 2006 constitutional amendment, which was approved by 78 percent of voters, banned same-sex marriage in the state.