Rowan County deputies agree to issue gay marriage licenses
Whether Kim Davis stays in jail depends on whether she'll allow the licenses to be granted
Five of the six deputy clerks in the Rowan County Clerk’s office have told U.S. District Judge David Bunning that they are willing to comply with his order to issue marriage licenses to all qualified couples, regardless of sexual orientation, according to John Cheves of the Lexington Herald-Leader.
The dissenting deputy clerk, Nathan Davis, is the son of head clerk Kim Davis, who was taken into custody earlier Thursday because she refused to comply with a ruling by Bunning issued in August that required her to issue marriage licenses as part of her duties. Davis told Bunning that God’s authority was higher than the court’s before she was led away by U.S. marshals.
If Davis agrees to allow her deputies to issue licenses, she will be released from custody and she and her son will not have to personally issue licenses, instead handing off those responsibilities to the five deputy clerks. If, however, she continues to argue that she cannot allow any licenses to be issued because her name appears on the official forms for marriage licenses, she is likely to remain in jail.
According to previous testimony, four of Davis’ deputy clerks share her views on same-sex marriage, another was undecided on the subject, and the sixth was willing to issue the licenses but was being prevented from doing so by Davis and her legal advisors, Liberty Counsel. Bunning referenced the deputies’ opinions in his ruling ordering Davis to issue licenses to qualified couples. At least three of Davis’ other deputies are unwilling to face prison time even though they personally oppose same-sex marriage.
Some think Davis is deliberately pushing the envelope in order to offer herself as a conservative martyr for opponents of same-sex marriage.
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