Homophobic Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis denied a gay couple a marriage license for a third time on Thursday. Davis defied a 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling affirming a previous injunction against her. The injunction was issued by Judge David Banning. He argued that Davis’ religious objections to gay marriage do not excuse her from performing her official duties or upholding her oath of office.
The Kentucky clerk continues to refuse any marriage licenses in protest of the 2015 Supreme Court Ruling permitting same-sex marriage in every state. James Yates and William Smith, Jr., a gay couple that has been together for a decade, attempted to obtain a marriage license for the third time on Thursday, but they were turned away yet again. Smith correctly observed that Davis was “blatantly breaking the law.”
Yates expressed his frustration against Kentucky clerks who refuse to grant licenses, by stating:
They don’t like gays, and they don’t want them to get married, and they will burn the earth and not let straight people in Rowan County get married either.
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In addition to Rowan County’s Kim Davis, Casey County clerk Casey Davis (no relation) has also defied the courts by refusing to issue marriage licenses. Both clerks are trying to argue that requiring them to obey the law somehow violates their “religious freedom”, which they apparently define as the freedom to discriminate against gays and lesbians.
These county clerks are the 21st century equivalent of George Wallace standing in the schoolhouse door in 1963. They may be proud of their intransigent bigotry, but history will not be kind to them. If Kim Davis does not want to perform the duties of her job as County Clerk then she needs to tender her resignation on the spot, so that Yates and Smith can get their marriage license and get on with their lives.
Keith Brekhus is a progressive American who currently resides in Red Lodge, Montana. He is co-host for the Liberal Fix radio show. He holds a Master’s Degree in Sociology from the University of Missouri. In 2002, he ran for Congress as a Green Party candidate in the state of Missouri. In 2014, he worked as a field organizer for Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick’s successful re-election bid in Arizona’s 1st Congressional District. He can be followed on Twitter @keithbrekhus or on Facebook.
