Kentucky Clerk Sued For Not Issuing Same-Sex Marriage Licenses

A Kentucky clerk is being sued after she refused to issue same-sex marriage licenses following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to allow same-sex couples legally marry.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky filed a lawsuit on Thursday on behalf of four Rowan County couples, April Miller and Karen Roberts; Shantel Burke and Stephen Napier; Jody Fernandez and Kevin Holloway; and L. Aaron Skaggs and Barry W. Spartman, who say they were refused marriage licenses and are having their 14th Amendment rights violated., USA Today reports.

Democrat Kim Davis, a Rowan County, Kentucky clerk, is one of several clerks who have decided they will no longer issue any licenses to avoid issuing them to gays and lesbians because of their Christian beliefs. Davis and other clerks are arguing that they can’t be held liable for discrimination if they refuse to issue the licenses to anyone who requests them. However, she is now being sued for her actions, or lack thereof.

“It’s a deep-rooted conviction; my conscience won’t allow me to do that,” Kim said in a statement on Tuesday, according to Fox News. “It goes against everything I hold dear, everything sacred in my life.”

“We certainly respect the religious beliefs and whatever conscientious choices these clerks make, but it can’t infringe on their job duties and it can’t infringe on the constitutional rights of the citizens that they’re there to serve,” said attorney Dan Canon, a lawyer representing the couples against the clerk.

“We have been citizens of Rowan County since the beginning of our relationship and love being members of this community,” Skaggs said in a statement. “So it only makes sense that we would want and should be granted our right to be recognized as a loving couple having freedom to marry here at home.”

Laura Landenwich, one of the attorneys that filed the lawsuit, wrote that Davis “has the absolute right to believe whatever she wants about God, faith, and religion, but as a government official who swore an oath to uphold the law, she cannot pick and choose who she is going to serve, or which duties her office will perform based on her religious beliefs.”

Do you agree with the Kentucky clerk being sued for not issuing the marriage licenses? Leave your comments below.

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