Syracuse Judge Refuses to Marry Lesbian Couple
New York judge Felicia Pitts Davis is accused of violating the law by refusing to officiate a same-sex wedding.
On Saturday, November 16, Syracuse City Court Judge Felicia Pitts Davis was scheduled to perform two weddings.
She officiated the first, which involved a straight couple, but allegedly refused to perform the second between two women.
Another judge, Mary Anne Doherty, who is married to a woman, was called to come into court to officiate the same-sex marriage, reports the Syracuse-based newspaper The Post-Standard. The paper’s sources claim Pitts Davis told Doherty she refused to conduct the ceremony due to her religious beliefs.
For more than two weeks, local and state court officials attempted to keep the judge’s actions a secret, refusing to answer questions from The Post-Standard about what happened and refusing to acknowledge that any marriages had been performed in court that day.
The couple at the center of the controversy, Shawntay and Niccora Davis, told the newspaper that they had seen Pitts Davis marry the heterosexual couple, even becoming emotional and crying while performing the ceremony. But the couple said Pitts Davis left the courtroom and barely acknowledged their presence when it was their turn. They called the judge’s attitude “rude” and her behavior “weird.”
“She looked at us with this look on her face and swished her hair,” the Davises told Syracuse-based ABC affiliate WSYR. “She just walked off. Like, she was just disgusted or something.”
Ten minutes later, Doherty arrived to marry them. The couple said they knew something was off but weren’t aware of the controversy until a reporter contacted them after the fact.
Under state law, judges are authorized but not required to perform marriages. However, they are prohibited from discriminating against same-sex couples if they agree to officiate marriages for opposite-sex couples.
A former defense lawyer who was elected to a 10-year term on the bench in 2020, Pitts Davis has declined to comment on the incident. When a reporter for The Post-Standard contacted her husband, Alfonso Davis, he called the allegations “bullshit” and told the reporter not to call again. Doherty has also declined to comment.
Marriage equality has been legal in New York State since 2011.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, condemned the alleged discrimination on social media. “No one should be subject to hate or discrimination simply because of who they love,” Hochul wrote. “Any judge willing to officiate a wedding in their courtroom cannot pick and choose who deserves a wedding.”
Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh, a member of the Independence Party of New York, a center-right populist party, also commented on the controversy.
“Judge Pitts Davis’ refusal to perform a wedding ceremony for a same-sex couple doesn’t align with this vision and, importantly, doesn’t comply with state law,” he said in a statement.
Onondaga County Democratic Chairperson Max Ruckdeschel called on Pitts Davis to resign, saying that the discrimination “disqualifies her from any future consideration for our endorsement.”
Meanwhile, Shawntay and Niccora Davis say they’re moving on with their lives. The couple are raising three daughters together, and are in the process of adopting a 2-month-old baby. Both women recounted how Doherty, when performing their wedding ceremony, shared her own personal story of marrying her wife in the early 2000s and raising twins together, before wishing them well in their marriage.
“We really appreciate and thank her for her doing that,” Shawntay told WSYR.
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