Kentucky clerk Kim Davis gave her first nationally televised interview on Good Morning America yesterday, where she tried making the case that she’s not a homophobe because, as she put it, “I have friends who are gay and lesbian.”
“They know where I stand,” Davis claimed. “We don’t agree on the issue and we’re okay because we respect each other.”
The sleuths over at The Daily Beast decided to do some digging. They launched a campaign in search of Davis’ alleged same-sex loving friends.
First, they reached out to Davis directly, but emails sent to her government account went unanswered.
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Next, they contacted Davis’ lawyers at The Liberty Counsel. Spokeswoman Charla Bansley said she couldn’t name any of Davis’ alleged gay friends, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the thrice-divorced clerk is lying.
“I don’t think she would lie,” Bansley said. “Someone who goes to jail for her conscience wouldn’t lie about that.”
The Daily Beast then tracked down Davis’ first husband, Dwain Wallace, to ask if she had any gay friends back when they were together.
“I wouldn’t have a clue, to be honest,” he replied.
Neighbors of Davis were also unable to confirm whether she had any gay friends. Neither was Brian Mason, the deputy clerk who’s been issuing marriage licenses in Davis’ stead, though he quite professionally said he doesn’t “keep up with her personal life.”
The only person who seemed to believe Davis’ claim was, oddly enough, a lesbian from Morehead, KY named Carmen Wampler-Collins who says her niece, who is also a lesbian, knows the Davis family.
“I grew up in Morehead and it’s fairly common to have people in your life say they love you and still hold deep opposition to you being in a same-sex relationship,” Wampler-Collins said. “It’s a small town and many people just feel it’s best to get along and not make waves, even if they face discrimination.”
Even so, that hardly counts as a friendship.
The LGBT advocacy group Kentucky Equality put out a call for anyone gay people who may be friends with Davis to please contact them.
So far, nobody has.
