Same-sex couples in Rowan County, Ky. received legal marriage licenses for the first time on Friday, several weeks after the June Supreme Court decision that legalized gay marriage nationwide.
Kentucky County Clerk Kim Davis has been refusing to issue licenses to same-sex couples, despite being ordered to do so by more than one court. She was most recently ordered to issue the legal licenses by the Supreme Court, a request which she denied. Davis is now incarcerated in jail, and same-sex couples are flooding to her office to get their licenses, according to The New York Times.
"Here's two things I know: She's not going to resign and she's not going to violate her conscience...So however long that lasts, in terms of the consequences, she is prepared to accept them," lawyer Mathew Staver said. Davis, a registered Democrat, believes that same-sex marriage violates her religious beliefs.
Five employees in her office have agreed to issue the licenses in her absence. James Yates and William Smith were the first to enter the clerk's office Friday morning. They had previously attempted to get a license several times since the Supreme Court ruling.
"Our position and the position of the clerk of Rowan County is that those licenses are void," Staver said, The Washington Post reported.
Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee plans to visit Davis in jail, according to CNN. Davis is being held in contempt of court. "Having Kim Davis in federal custody removes all doubt of the criminalization of Christianity in our country. We must defend religious liberty and never surrender to judicial tyranny," Huckabee said in a statement.
