By Bob Allen
A misdemeanor trespassing trial for a gay Baptist minister and his partner who refused to leave a city clerk’s office after being denied a marriage license was postponed Monday when attorneys were unable to come up with an impartial jury.
Attorneys for Maurice “Bojangles” Blanchard and Dominique James and prosecutors questioned prospective jurors Aug. 6 in Jefferson County District Court in Louisville, Ky. After people were eliminated for various reasons, not enough remained in the jury pool for the trial to proceed. The trial was rescheduled for Nov. 25.
Blanchard and James tried to apply for a marriage license in January in defiance of a state law that bans gay couples from marrying. Then they staged a sit-in that led to their arrest on a charge of third-degree criminal trespassing. If convicted they face a $250 fine.
Blanchard, a local gay-rights activist, is a student at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary and an ordained Baptist minister who leads True Colors, a ministry begun in January 2011 as an affirming outreach ministry to those in the LGBTQ community at Highland Baptist Church.
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Gay minister’s trespassing trial begins