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 Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis has refused to issue marriage
licenses to any couples - gay or straight - since the court in June
ruled that same-sex couples had the right to marry under the U.S.
Constitution.
On Monday, the same court rejected Davis' request for an emergency
order allowing her to deny marriage licenses to gay couples while
she appeals a federal judge's order requiring her to issue them.
Amid calls for her resignation, death threats and an order that she
appear in federal court on Thursday, Davis clung to her religious
beliefs.
"I have no animosity toward anyone and harbor no ill will," she said
in a statement. "To me this has never been a gay or lesbian issue.
It is about marriage and God’s word. It is a matter of religious
liberty."
"It is not a light issue for me. It is a heaven or hell decision.
For me it is a decision of obedience," she said.
 Outside the building in Morehead, Kentucky, that houses the clerk's
office, large crowds supporting both sides on the issue gathered and
chanted slogans.
Those favoring same-sex marriage chanted, "What do we want?
Equality," said Chris Hartman, director of the Louisville-based
Fairness Campaign.
Backers of Davis included a person dressed as a Revolutionary War
patriot.
"These couples, they torment her because of her beliefs," said Penny
Stinnett of nearby Mount Sterling, who came out to support Davis.
'UNDER GOD'S AUTHORITY'
Four couples filed a federal lawsuit against Davis in July
challenging her office's policy of not issuing marriage licenses.
On Tuesday the couples filed a motion asking U.S. District Judge
David Bunning to hold Davis in contempt of court, seeking fines but
no jail time for the clerk.
During a call with attorneys for both sides, Bunning ordered Davis
and her deputies to appear in federal court in Ashland, Kentucky, on
Thursday, said Joe Dunman, an attorney for one of the couples who
had sued.
Last month, the judge said Davis had to live up to her
responsibilities as county clerk despite her religious convictions.
Lawyers for at least three same-sex couples said they were refused
licenses on Tuesday. She said her office would go on denying
marriage licenses pending an appeal to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals in Cincinnati.
The videotaped exchange between a couple seeking a license and Davis
was posted on the Courier-Journal newspaper website.
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In the video, David Ermold and David Moore, a same-sex couple, ask
Davis under whose authority was she denying them a marriage license.
"Under God's authority," Davis replies.
While issues related to gay marriage have arisen in courts in
several states, the American Civil Liberties Union said the
organization was unaware of any other U.S. county clerk refusing to
issue same-sex marriage licenses.
"She's an outlier,” ACLU national spokeswoman Allison Steinberg said
of Davis.
Democratic Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear said in a statement on
Tuesday that he could not remove Davis from her job or relieve her
of her statutory duties without a change in state law, something
that cannot be done until state legislators convene in four months.
He said calling a special session of the general assembly would be
too costly.
"The future of the Rowan County clerk is now in the hands of the
courts," he said.
A spokeswoman for Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway said on
Monday that his office was reviewing a request for a special
prosecutor to determine if Davis committed official misconduct. On
Tuesday morning she said a final decision was pending.
Official misconduct is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 365 days in
jail, the spokeswoman said.
Rowan County Attorney Cecil Watkins, who requested the special
prosecutor after one of the plaintiff couples complained to him,
said he expected the attorney general's office to decide the matter
by Thursday.
(Additional reporting by Daniel Bases in New York, Susan Heavey in
Washington and Suzannah Gonzales in Chicago; Writing by Ben Klayman;
Editing by Jonathan Oatis, Howard Goller and Lisa Shumaker)
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