Kentucky clerk defies Supreme Court, denies marriage licenses to same-sex couples

Video by wave3.com-Louisville News

A Kentucky county clerk defied a federal court order when she denied marriage licenses to two same-sex couples Tuesday.

Rowan County clerk Kim Davis stopped issuing all marriage licenses shortly after the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in June that guaranteed the right for same-sex couples to marry.

Davis was ordered by a federal judge to issue the licenses, and last week the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed. On Monday night, the Supreme Court rejected her appeal, which is based on her religious belief that marriage can only be between a man and a woman.

Couples April Miller and Karen Roberts, and David Moore and David Ermold, applied for licenses at the Rowan County Clerk’s office and were rejected Tuesday. For Moore and Ermold, it was their fourth time being rejected.

Rowan County Deputy Clerk Nathan Davis, right, informs David Moore, center, and David Ermold, left, that he won’t issue them a marriage license on Aug. 13, 2015, at the Rowan County Clerk’s office in Morehead, Kentucky. The couple tried for a fourth time Tuesday and were denied again. John Flavell/Lexington Herald-Leader/TNS via Getty Images

According to Lex18.com, Davis said she was refusing to issue the licenses “under God’s authority.”

In a video filmed by a Louisville, Kentucky news station, Moore confronts Davis, saying: “You’re treating us like second class citizens.”

Four couples, two gay and two straight, have sued Davis, saying she must fulfill her duties as clerk.

Davis issued a statement Tuesday that said she intends to continue serving as Rowan County clerk. It reads in part: “I was elected by the people to serve as the County Clerk. I intend to continue to serve the people of Rowan County, but I cannot violate my conscience.”

Because of the Supreme Court’s ruling Monday, Davis could be held in contempt of court.