Yesterday afternoon, Beau Chandler and Mark "Major" Jiminez went down to the Dallas County Records building to apply for a marriage license. They were refused, naturally. So they quietly handcuffed themselves together, sat down and refused to leave. When the building closed for the day, they were arrested and taken to jail in separate cars.
Around 11 p.m., Jiminez posted on the wall of the Facebook event they had created to announce what they were planning to do.
"Freedom. I don't even know where to begin," he wrote.
Jiminez thanked the couple's friends within DPD and the Sheriff's Department, the people who protested outside of Lew Sterrett Jail while they were in holding, and an officer at the jail who he said helped expedite their release.
"Our bond was set at $500.00 each and when we walked out of jail after posting our bond, we were greeted with money to help defray the cost that was just collected in the past couple of hours," he wrote. "Of course, it is not over. We have to appear in court August 2 at 8:30am. And of course, I will keep you all posted. We love all of you and thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We are humbled and moved."
According to Dallas county court records, both men have been charged with criminal trespass, a class B misdemeanor.
LGBT activist C.d. Kirven (one of this year's Dallas People) was one of the many supporters present at the sit-in and sent along a few photos. "It was beautiful," she says.
