Lyn Riddle

lnriddle@greenvillenews.com

They've got their rings, a date and a venue, but what Lindsey Crumbley and Halley Page don't have is a marriage license.

They applied for one on Wednesday morning in Greenville County Probate Court, and unlike those who applied in Charleston County, were denied once again.

Greenville County Probate Judge Debora Faulkner said in a statement that she would not allow marriage licenses to be issued to same-sex couples until the issue is decided in a South Carolina court and the ruling could not be appealed.

Charleston County Probate Judge Irvin Condon felt otherwise. He accepted an application and will issue the state's first marriage license to a same-sex couple, Charleston County Councilwoman Colleen Condon and her partner Nichols Bleckley. Condon and the probate judge are distant relatives. Attorney General Alan Wilson responded by asking the South Carolina Supreme Court to stop Condon from issuing any licenses.

Wilson filed a petition for original jurisdiction and a motion for temporary injunction.

"This case is about following the rule of law and the legal process. As the chief legal officer of South Carolins, it is the sworn duty of the Attorney General to seek to uphold State law until set aside by the courts."

The petition conintinues by saying a public official can't refuse to follow state law becuase the offical thinks the law is unconstitutional.

In Richland County, applications were accepted but licenses will not be issued until the state Supreme Court rules on whether the license issued in Charleston was legal.

In Greenville County, Lindsey Simerly of the Campaign of Southern Equality appealed to Faulkner in a meeting at County Square after the three couples were turned away.

"She's polite but wrong," Simerly said.

A ruling by the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals that struck down a same-sex marriage ban in Virginia applies to South Carolina, which is in the same federal circuit, she said.

On Monday when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to consider the Virginia ruling, that meant the decision stands, she said. The court also declined to review cases in Utah, Oklahoma, Indiana and Wisconsin.

Simerly came out of the meeting with Faulkner shaking her head and said Faulkner had said she needed an unappealable ruling before she would allow licenses to be issued. Page held up both hands and looked puzzled. "The Supreme Court?" Page said.

"I believe it's already unappealable," Simerly said. "Sorry I don't have better news."

"South Carolina is bound by the 4th Circuit decision," said Aaron Sarver, communications director for the Campaign for Southern Equality.

Gov. Nikki Haley suports Wilson's decision to defend the state's constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.

The pending case in South Carolina involves a couple who were legally wed in Washington, D.C., and are suing to have the state recognize their marriage. A stay was issued in the case until the 4th Circuit judges ruled on the Virginia case.

The attorney general and the lawyers for the couple have until Oct. 15 to submit briefs on how to go forward. U.S. District Judge Michelle Childs is expected to rule once the documents are filed. State House Democratic leader Todd Rutherford called the Charleston County judge's decision historic and one of the state's proudest moments.

But he noted more work needs to be done because gays and lesbians can be fired because of their sexual orientation.

The Palmetto Family Council issued a statement supporting Wilson. The organization said the Charleston probate judge was politically motivated and his action is illegal. They said they believe the court will agree with South Carolina voters, who passed a constititional amendment "on marriage as it has existed from the beginning of time."

The Campaign for Southern Equality and South Carolina Equality sponsored a rally on the State House grounds Wednesday to protest the decision by Haley and Wilson. They marched to Wilson's office to deliver a petition with 5,000 signatures asking that he stop defending the state's ban on gay marriage.

Jeff Ayers, the chairman of the South Carolina Equality Board of Directors, said in a press release that the state's leadership was wasting taxpayer money.

"It's not a question in South Carolina," Sarver said. "It will happen. There may be delay tactics but the reality is we'll be seeing weddings very soon."

Meanwhile, a federal judge in North Carolina has asked attorneys for both sides to submit reports on how they should proceed, and the ruling is imminent. Attorney General Roy Hooper decided against defending the state's gay marriage ban when the 4th Circuit ruled this summer.

Besides Page and Crumbley, the couples seeking licenses in Greenville County Wednesday were Ivy Hill and Misha Gordon, and Brianna Watts and Rachel Duncan. All three couples had applied before. For Hill and Gordon, it was the fifth time in the 3 1/2 years they've been together.

"We know it's only a matter of time," Hill said.

They intend to be married at Ivy Acres, 80 acres owned by Hill's family in Piedmont. Page and Crumbley will be married there as well, they said, on Oct. 17, 2015 and will hold a ceremonial union at the University of North Carolina at Asheville arboretum, where they met. They were engaged at Ivy Acres. Hill and Page grew up together.

Watts, 26, and Duncan, 31, met at a party at the home of a mutual friend. They've been together for five years.

They want a wedding that they describe as vintage eclectic or geek chic. Rustic with lots of earth tones. Something that says fall. Like Page and Crumbley, they're planning to be married in October of next year, although on Wednesday they said they would get married quickly after a marriage license was issued and celebrate next year.

The three couples considered going to Charleston County for licenses Wednesday but all said when the momentous day comes, they want to be in their hometown.

"We could have gone to Virginia or New York or any state where it's legal," said Crumbley. "It's important that we achieve this goal here, in our hometown."