Homophobic clerk’s office lets gay couples marry, while she sits in jail
Marriage licenses have been issued to same-sex couples by the deputies of Kentucky clerk Kim Davis – after she was jailed for contempt of court for refusing them.
Davis, the clerk for Rowan County, recently became a household name due to her attempts to flout the law by not issuing marriage licenses – which is one of the primary functions of her job.
After she ignored successive rulings from courts ordering her to stop discriminating against same-sex couples, Davis – who has been married four times but claims “God” doesn’t want her letting gays marry – was jailed for contempt of court.
While Davis sits in jail, however, her clerks have today started issuing licenses to same-sex couples – making her entire tantrum entirely pointless.
William Smith Jr and James Yates, who had previously been denied by Davis, today returned to the Rowan County clerk’s office to request a license.
Without Davis there to stop them, the couple were this time successful, and left a short while later with a marriage license.
A separate couple who had been turned away four times by Ms Davis, April Miller and Karen Roberts, have also confirmed their plans to obtain a marriage license in Rowan County today.
Miller told AP that the couple plan to get their marriage licence and “show that piece of paper off for a minute or two”, before going home and having a quiet life together.
She said: “We look forward to [Friday] as a couple… It will be a very important day in our lives.”
Meanwhile, Davis will continue to sit in jail, having rejected a proposed deal that would see her freed if she agreed to allow her deputies to issue same-sex marriage licenses.
