Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis was found in contempt of court Thursday for her refusal to issue marriage licenses in Kentucky and taken into federal custody.
"The court cannot condone the willful disobedience of its lawfully issued order," U.S. District Court Judge David Bunning said. "If you give people the opportunity to choose which orders they follow, that's what potentially causes problems."
Bunning placed Davis in the custody of U.S. marshals until she agrees to issue the licenses, according to the Huntsville Times.
Prior to the hearing, more than 100 protesters gathered outside the federal courthouse to bolster both sides of the debate. On one side people were waving signs with religious messages while others were waving signs supporting marriage equality.
One man stood in the middle of the crowd and shouted, "If we want to live like Sodom and Gomorrah, God will punish us like Sodom and Gomorrah." In the cited psalm, Genesis 19:23-26, God rained burning sulfur on the land of the two cities destroying all who lived there because of their sins, which included sodomy, according to USA Today.
Davis was called to testify at today's hearing where she reiterated what she has been saying from the very beginning: issuing licenses to same-sex couples is against her religious beliefs, according to ABC News.
"My conscience will not allow me," Davis said several times during her testimony.
The crowd of marriage equality supporters that had gathered outside of the courthouse in Ashland, Ky., began to cheer as the news spread. However, those who supported Davis saw the ruling as a major loss and a breach of their religious freedom.
"They're taking rights away from Christians," Danny Kinder, a 73-year-old retiree from Morehead, said of the courts. "They've overstepped their bounds."
