A county clerk's
office in rural Kentucky issued marriage licenses to two gay couples on
Friday morning after defying a U.S. district judge's orders for months.After
Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis was jailed on Thursday for refusing to
follow the orders of U.S. District Judge David Bunning, her deputies
processed a marriage license
to James Yates and William Smith, who had previously been denied one five times, after the clerk's office opened on Friday.
Attorneys for Davis said on Thursday she would deny her deputies the authority to issue licenses. That raised questions about the validity of the documents until the matter is settled in court.
The issuance of the licenses followed months of legal wrangling between Davis and the courts that drew global attention and protests from supporters and opponents of gay marriage.
Davis, who has become a darling of social conservatives, had refused to issue any marriage licenses under an office policy she created after the U.S. Supreme Court in June made gay marriage legal across the United States. She cited her beliefs as an Apostolic Christian that a marriage can only be between a man and a woman.
Yates and Smith, who held hands entering and exiting the building, paid $35.50 in cash for the license. Deputy clerk Brian Mason, who had a sign in the office reading "marriage license deputy," shook their hands and congratulated them.
As Yates and Smith exited the building, supporters chanted "Love has won!" Yates said all he wanted to do was hug his parents.
"We were more optimistic today," Yates said, when asked if the couple had been nervous about their sixth attempt to get a license. They now have 30 days to get married, and he said they had two dates picked out, depending on when guests can attend.
Off to the side, a Davis backer holding a Bible preached against homosexuality.
It was the 100th marriage license issued by the clerk's office this year and the first one since the Supreme Court ruling. Last year, it issued 214 licenses.
About two hours later, another couple, Timothy and Michael Long, got their marriage license.
"People shouldn't have to go through what we've been through just to get a basic right," Timothy Long said.
"SAD DAY IN AMERICA"
Two other same-sex couples, including April Miller and Karen Roberts, said they planned to get their licenses on Friday. Miller and Roberts were one of the four couples who sued Davis in July for not issuing licenses.
Emotions have run high on all sides as Davis and an attorney for one of the four couples who sued said they had received death threats. A Kentucky legal trade publication reported the judge had also received a death threat.
Outside the Morehead, Kentucky, courthouse where the clerk's office is located, there were about 40 demonstrators, far fewer than the 200 who showed up on Thursday in Ashland, the site of the federal courthouse where Davis was found in contempt and jailed. Morehead is about 90 miles from the state capital of Frankfort.
Davis' husband stood outside the courthouse on Friday morning, holding a sign that read, "Welcome to Sodom and Gomorrah." He said his wife was in good spirits after her first night in jail at a county detention center, adding she had no plans to resign and was prepared to remain in jail for as long as she felt necessary.
"We don't hate these people," he told reporters. "That's the furthest thing from our hearts. We don't hate nobody. We just want to have the same rights that they have."
Lifelong Morehead resident Michele Kinder, 44, voiced support for the county clerk. "It's a sad day in America when you can be arrested for your Christian beliefs."
On Thursday, Bunning ordered Davis jailed, saying he did not think a fine would be effective. He did not give a time frame for how long she would remain in jail.
Bunning got pledges from five of Davis' six deputy clerks that they would issue licenses to anyone, including same-sex couples, in her absence. The judge told them they would be ordered to return to the U.S. District Court in Ashland, Kentucky, if they did not.
Meanwhile, Davis waited for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati, Ohio, to rule on her request to set aside Bunning's ruling. In denying the request for a stay on the order, the appeals court said there was "little or no likelihood" she would prevail.
Davis' stance and whether she should be forced to issue marriage licenses has split Republican presidential candidates. Mike Huckabee, who has voiced support for Davis, said he was headed to Grayson, Kentucky, to join a rally on Tuesday outside the jail where she is being held.
(Reporting by Steve Bittenbender in Kentucky; Writing by David Bailey and Ben Klayman; Editing by Ken Wills and Jeffrey Benkoe)
to James Yates and William Smith, who had previously been denied one five times, after the clerk's office opened on Friday.
Attorneys for Davis said on Thursday she would deny her deputies the authority to issue licenses. That raised questions about the validity of the documents until the matter is settled in court.
The issuance of the licenses followed months of legal wrangling between Davis and the courts that drew global attention and protests from supporters and opponents of gay marriage.
Davis, who has become a darling of social conservatives, had refused to issue any marriage licenses under an office policy she created after the U.S. Supreme Court in June made gay marriage legal across the United States. She cited her beliefs as an Apostolic Christian that a marriage can only be between a man and a woman.
Yates and Smith, who held hands entering and exiting the building, paid $35.50 in cash for the license. Deputy clerk Brian Mason, who had a sign in the office reading "marriage license deputy," shook their hands and congratulated them.
As Yates and Smith exited the building, supporters chanted "Love has won!" Yates said all he wanted to do was hug his parents.
"We were more optimistic today," Yates said, when asked if the couple had been nervous about their sixth attempt to get a license. They now have 30 days to get married, and he said they had two dates picked out, depending on when guests can attend.
Off to the side, a Davis backer holding a Bible preached against homosexuality.
It was the 100th marriage license issued by the clerk's office this year and the first one since the Supreme Court ruling. Last year, it issued 214 licenses.
About two hours later, another couple, Timothy and Michael Long, got their marriage license.
"People shouldn't have to go through what we've been through just to get a basic right," Timothy Long said.
"SAD DAY IN AMERICA"
Two other same-sex couples, including April Miller and Karen Roberts, said they planned to get their licenses on Friday. Miller and Roberts were one of the four couples who sued Davis in July for not issuing licenses.
Emotions have run high on all sides as Davis and an attorney for one of the four couples who sued said they had received death threats. A Kentucky legal trade publication reported the judge had also received a death threat.
Outside the Morehead, Kentucky, courthouse where the clerk's office is located, there were about 40 demonstrators, far fewer than the 200 who showed up on Thursday in Ashland, the site of the federal courthouse where Davis was found in contempt and jailed. Morehead is about 90 miles from the state capital of Frankfort.
Davis' husband stood outside the courthouse on Friday morning, holding a sign that read, "Welcome to Sodom and Gomorrah." He said his wife was in good spirits after her first night in jail at a county detention center, adding she had no plans to resign and was prepared to remain in jail for as long as she felt necessary.
"We don't hate these people," he told reporters. "That's the furthest thing from our hearts. We don't hate nobody. We just want to have the same rights that they have."
Lifelong Morehead resident Michele Kinder, 44, voiced support for the county clerk. "It's a sad day in America when you can be arrested for your Christian beliefs."
On Thursday, Bunning ordered Davis jailed, saying he did not think a fine would be effective. He did not give a time frame for how long she would remain in jail.
Bunning got pledges from five of Davis' six deputy clerks that they would issue licenses to anyone, including same-sex couples, in her absence. The judge told them they would be ordered to return to the U.S. District Court in Ashland, Kentucky, if they did not.
Meanwhile, Davis waited for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati, Ohio, to rule on her request to set aside Bunning's ruling. In denying the request for a stay on the order, the appeals court said there was "little or no likelihood" she would prevail.
Davis' stance and whether she should be forced to issue marriage licenses has split Republican presidential candidates. Mike Huckabee, who has voiced support for Davis, said he was headed to Grayson, Kentucky, to join a rally on Tuesday outside the jail where she is being held.
(Reporting by Steve Bittenbender in Kentucky; Writing by David Bailey and Ben Klayman; Editing by Ken Wills and Jeffrey Benkoe)
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