Same-Sex Couples Stage Sit-In For Marriage
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Nine same-sex couples staged a sit-in at San Francisco City Hall on Monday to protest California's ban on gay marriages.
The brief occupation of the county clerk's office provided a new twist on what has become a Valentine's Day ritual in many cities of gay and lesbian couples trying to obtain marriage licenses and being turned down.
When the couples sat on the floor and refused to leave, sheriff's deputies led them away in handcuffs. But the protestors all were released 15 minutes later without being cited.
California voters amended the state constitution to outlaw same-sex marriage in November 2008, five months after the state's highest court had legalized it.
A federal judge last summer overturned the ban, known as Proposition 8. The case is now in the hands of a federal appeals court.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
