A Kentucky county clerk is facing lawsuits for refusing to issue marriage licenses to both gay and heterosexual couples.
Kim Davis, who has been a deputy clerk in Rowan, Kentucky for 27 years, faced lawsuits filed against her on July 2 by American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) representing two straight couples and two gay couples who were refused marriage licenses.
An Apostolic Christian, Davis says that her religious convictions prohibit her from issuing same-sex marriage licenses with her name on it. After the Supreme Court ruling in June that legalized same-sex marriage, Davis has since refused to issue licenses to both gay and heterosexual couples.
On Wednesday, August 12, Judge David L. Bunning of US District Court for Eastern Kentucky ruled that Davis must issue marriage licenses, regardless of her religious and/or moral objections, asserting that Davis is “simply being asked to signify that couples meet the legal requirements to marry.”
“The State is not asking her to condone same-sex unions on moral or religious grounds, nor is it restricting her from engaging in a variety of religious activities. Davis remains free to practice her Apostolic Christian beliefs. She may continue to attend church twice a week, participate in Bible Study and minister to female inmates at the Rowan County Jail. She is even free to believe that marriage is a union between one man and one woman, as many Americans do,” Bunning wrote.
“However, her religious convictions cannot excuse her from performing the duties that she took an oath to perform as Rowan County Clerk,” he concludes.
Davis’ lawyers immediately appealed the decision. Davis has filed suit against Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear for infringing on her religious freedom for not allowing her and other county clerks to receive exemption from issuing marriage licenses to which they have moral objections, according to Lexington Herald-Leader.
“Governor Beshear is forcing clerks like Davis to choose between following the precepts of her religion and forfeiting her position, on one hand, and abandoning one of the precepts of her religion in order to keep her position, on the other hand,” reads the lawsuit.
Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel Mat Staver said, “Kim Davis cannot license something that is prohibited by her religious convictions. To provide a license is to provide approval and places a legal authority behind what is being licensed. The First Amendment protects actions and not mere thought. Kim Davis should not be forced to violate her religious beliefs.”
Davis faces fines and could be found in contempt of court if she loses the lawsuit, which leaves the possibility for a jail sentence, according to AP.
