A conservative Christian legal group advised a Kentucky county clerk to disobey a federal court order to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples — so that’s what she did.
A deputy clerk in Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis’ office refused to issue a marriage license Thursday morning to David Moore and David Ermold hours after a U.S. district judge ordered her to do the opposite, reported the Associated Press. The couple, who have been together 17 years, returned to the county clerk’s office a little more than a month after they were insulted and turned away during their first attempt to seek a marriage license from the anti-LGBT elected official’s office.
A video of the previous attempt went viral in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that effectively legalized same-sex marriage in all 50 states.
Moore and Ermold were told in their second attempt that Davis would not issue them or any other same-sex couple a marriage license despite a ruling Wednesday by District Court Judge David Bunning that rejected the clerk’s argument that doing so would violate her religious liberty or freedom of speech.
Video of Moore and Ermold’s second attempt to obtain a marriage license shows a county employee saying that Davis was on vacation and offering vague directions to the county judge-executive’s office where they might seek assistance.
The employee says she had been told not to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples but declined to identify who gave the order.
Deputy clerk Nathan Davis said the office was advised by its attorneys from Liberty Counsel to continue discriminating against same-sex couples as they appeal Bunning’s ruling to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. The county employee shown in the video finally shrugs and urges Moore and Ermold to call Liberty Counsel if they had additional questions.
The couple’s attorneys with the American Civil Liberties Union could seek contempt charges against Davis if she continues to defy the order and the appeals court declines to issue a stay of Bunning’s ruling.
Watch video of the couple’s second attempt to obtain a marriage license from the elected official’s office:
Source: RawStory
