North Carolina Continues Assy Streak by Arresting Lesbian Applying for Marriage License

This week, bigoted North Carolinians embarrassed the hell out of cool North Carolinians by passing a law that made the whole state look like it was full of homophobic jagoffs. And yesterday, Team Awful won another round as a lesbian who applied for a marriage license was arrested. It's almost like North Carolina wants no one to ever go on vacation there again.

The incident happened after nine same-sex couples presented completed marriage applications and proper identification to the county clerk at the Winston-Salem Registrar of Deeds office and were turned away on the grounds that the day before, voters had decided that gay marriage is icky. After Mary Jamis of Mocksville and a straight friend of hers who was there to join the protest named Mary Lea Bradford wouldn't leave the courthouse, they were both arrested.

I get that trespassing is bad and that you should listen to law enforcement and stuff, but, from a publicity standpoint, this was probably a North Carolina party foul. The day after your state passes a constitutional amendment so nakedly bigoted that your own governor worried would damage the state's "brand" may not be the best time to start hauling gays away to jail after they try to get married. But I'm not a tourism expert.