Two same-sex couples in Mississippi are challenging the state's constitutional ban on gay marriage.
Jackson resident Joce Pritchett and her partner, Carla Webb, were legally married in Maine last year. Now they want the state of Mississippi to acknowledge their union.
"We are second-class citizens in Mississippi because of this ban." says Pritchett. "We need to be able to have our marriages recognized in our home state; not just in 30 states outside of Mississippi."
Pritchett and Webb -- along with another lesbian couple living in Mississippi -- have filed a federal lawsuit challenging the state's 10 year ban on same sex marriage. The suit, which was filed yesterday, in U.S. District Court in Jackson, calls into question the constitutionality of Mississippi's ban. Reverend Jasmine Beach-Ferrara is with the Campaign for Southern Equality, a LGBT rights group based in North Carolina and the co-plaintiffs in the challenge. She says now is the right time to contest the law.
"The U.S. Supreme Court has found that laws like these are unconstitutional and must be struck down, and we're confident that that day will come in Mississippi soon, as well." Beach-Ferrara.
Mississippi banned same-sex marriage in 2004 when 86 percent of Mississippians who voted that day called for a constitutional amendment.
