A federal judge says a Kentucky county clerk who won’t issue marriage licenses to gay couples because of her religious beliefs has until close of business Wednesday to respond to the latest motion in the case.
On Tuesday, as Rowan County clerk Kim Davis continued to deny licenses to couples despite a Supreme Court ruling against her, U.S. District Judge David Bunning ordered her and her six deputy clerks to appear at a federal court hearing Thursday.
Davis has previously testified that of her six employees, four share her beliefs, one is uncertain, and one employee doesn’t have a problem issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
Davis stopped issuing all marriage licenses after the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in June. Two gay couples and two straight couples sued her, and U.S. District Judge David Bunning ordered her to issue the licenses. On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld that order. But Davis still refused to issue the licenses Tuesday morning.
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The couples named in the lawsuit have asked Bunning to hold Davis in contempt of court and fine her for her continued refusal to grant licenses. They specifically asked that he not send her to jail.
In the Tuesday statement, Davis says she owes her life to Jesus Christ.
She says: “Following the death of my godly mother-in-law over four years ago, I went to church to fulfill her dying wish. There I heard a message of grace and forgiveness and surrendered my life to Jesus Christ.”
She also says that “to issue a marriage license which conflicts with God’s definition of marriage, with my name affixed to the certificate, would violate my conscience.”
She calls her decision one of obedience to God and says she won’t resign.
| Associated Press
