Ala. Minister Sentenced To Probation After Offering To Perform Gay Marriage

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An Alabama minister was sentenced to six months’ probation on Monday after she attempted to perform a gay marriage inside an Alabama probate judge’s office, according to the Montgomery Advertiser.

In February, Anne Susan Diprizio offered to perform a marriage ceremony for a gay couple who has just received their marriage license in the Autauga County probate judge’s office.

The probate judge’s office had stopped allowing ceremonies in the office. When Diprizio repeatedly refused to leave, Probate Judge Al Booth called the police, who arrested her for disorderly conduct.

“I’m glad this is over and we can put this behind us,” Diprizio said after she was sentenced and fined $250, according to the Montgomery Advertiser.

A federal judge struck down the state’s same-sex marriage ban in February, prompting probate judges to begin issuing marriage licenses to gay couples. In March, Alabama Supreme Court justices halted gay marriage licenses in the state, defying the federal court order. In May, a federal judge ruled that gay couples in Alabama can marry, but she put the ruling on hold until the Supreme Court’s decision on gay marriage.

H/t ThinkProgress

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