Defying court, Kentucky clerk denies gay-marriage licenses ‘under God’s authority’

The Washington Post

By Jim Higdon, J. Freedom du Lac and Sarah Larimer

Citing “God’s authority,” Kim Davis, the elected clerk of Kentucky’s Rowan County, refused to issue marriage licenses to several same-sex couples Tuesday — just hours after the Supreme Court ruled against her request to be excused from issuing such licenses.

April Miller and Karen Roberts were the first couple through the courthouse door — and the first to be rejected.

They were followed by David Ermold and David Moore, who have been rejected multiple times in Rowan County.

“I feel like I’ve been humiliated on such a national level,” Ermold told the Associated Press.

Davis did not make an appearance at the counter as the first couples streamed in, leaving employees to deny the licenses on her behalf. A woman at counter said Davis was “doing reports.”

When Davis emerged, she declared that she was not issuing any licenses.

“Under whose authority?” she was asked.

“Under God’s authority,” she said.
Amid competing chants of “Do your job!” and “Praise the Lord!” Davis asked the rejected applicants to leave the courthouse.

[Supreme Court rules gay couples nationwide have a right to marry]

The AP reported that another couple, James Yates and Will Smith Jr., were “red-eyed and shaking” as they left Tuesday morning, after being denied a license.

Ermold and Moore have previously documented their efforts to secure a license in Rowan County, which is located about an hour from Lexington. A video of a July attempt has more than 1,800,000 views on YouTube; another trip to the courthouse was recorded in mid-August.

Rowan County Sheriff Matt Sparks told the couples there was nothing he could do, saying the matter was in the hands of the federal courts.

“She will likely be found in contempt, as we know,” the sheriff said.

As The Washington Post reported Monday night, the high court turned away a request by Davis, who faces fines or even jail time if she doesn’t begin issuing marriage licenses Tuesday.

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Davis, an Apostolic Christian who opposes same-sex marriage, has argued that doing so would violate her religious liberties. Her husband, Joe Davis, also visited the county courthouse Tuesday, and told AP that his wife was “standing for God.”

“I’m an old redneck hillbilly, that’s all I’ve got to say,” Joe Davis, who said his wife has gotten threats against her life, told AP. “Don’t come knocking on my door.”
As The Post reported previously, Davis’s resistance has led to the most prominent of a number of legal skirmishes that have broken out since the high court decided in June that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry. The ruling was implemented relatively smoothly at first but lately has encountered resistance, particularly in the South.

[How kids became the strongest argument for same-sex marriage]

Davis — who stopped issuing licenses to all couples, gay and straight — had not indicated late Monday how she would respond to the court’s decision. If she refuses to comply, she could be held in contempt, leading to daily fines or jail time. At a recent rally, Davis adopted a defiant tone, asking for prayers to “stand firm.”
Sandhya Somashekhar and Robert Barnes contributed to this report, which has been updated. Du Lac and Larimer reported from Washington. A previous version incorrectly identified Sheriff Matt Sparks.