NEWS

Gay marriage ruling defied by some Ky clerks

Andrew Wolfson
@adwolfson

Defying the Supreme Court and Gov. Steve Beshear's orders, clerks in at least five Kentucky counties are refusing to issue marriage licenses to any couples to avoid having to grant them to gay and lesbian partners.

But their defiance could bring on the next legal battle over same-sex marriage.

"The U.S. Supreme Court issued the final word on this issue on Friday," Attorney General Jack Conway's spokeswoman Allison Martin said in a statement.

"The ruling does not tell a minister or congregation what they must do, but it does make clear that the government cannot pick and choose when it comes to issuing marriage licenses and the benefits they confer," she said.

Martin said any couple denied a license could seek relief in federal court and should consult with private counsel.

Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis said in a telephone interview that her "deep religious convictions" compel her to refuse to issue licenses to same-sex couples, so she decided not to issue them to anyone. "Marriage is ordained by God to be a man and a woman," she said.

Davis, who sent a heterosexual couple to another county to get a license Monday morning, said clerks in Casey, Clinton, Lawrence and Montgomery counties have adopted the same stance.

Casey County Clerk Casey Davis said, "I respect their position — the gay community's — that that is how they want to live … but I would ask for for the same respect for my decision."

But Dan Canon, one of the lawyers who won last week's ruling on behalf of six gay and lesbian Kentucky couples, said: "Personal disapproval, whatever the reason, has never relieved a clerk from performing the duties of her office, and it shouldn't now."

He added: "I'm going to take a wild guess that these clerks have issued plenty of licenses to couples who engage in a whole host of behaviors they might find unbiblical, immoral, or simply distasteful."

Bill Sharp, a staff attorney for the ACLU of Kentucky, said it has contacted one of the clerks refusing to issue licenses, but he wouldn't identify which one because the clerk has not responded yet. He said even if clerks are denying licenses to all couples, they still could be sued if that is just a pretext for denying licenses to gay couples.

"We are not aware of any justification that county clerks would have not to issue marriage licenses to anyone who is eligible and otherwise qualified," Sharp said.

Chris Hartman, director of the Fairness Campaign, which promotes gay rights, said denying licenses should expect "to be sued and spend taxpayer dollars in the process."

In Texas, state Attorney General Ken Paxton said in an opinion Sunday that county clerks can refuse to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples based on religious objections. He noted that clerks who refuse to issue licenses can expect to be sued but added that "numerous lawyers stand ready to assist clerks defending their religious beliefs," in many cases without charge.

Beshear defended the state's marriage ban, but hours after the Supreme Court's ruling was issued he ordered state agencies and clerks Friday to comply with it.

The clerks refusing to issue licenses include Lawrence Clerk Chris Jobe, who is the president of the Kentucky County Clerks Association. He did not respond Monday to messages.

Davis, the Casey clerk, said his religious conscience would not permit him to issue a license to a gay couple, so he decided to issue them to no one. "I have always tried to be fair to everyone and treat everyone the same," he said. "If I can't do it for one, I can't for the other."

Davis said he consulted with Casey County Attorney Thomas Weddle Jr., who said in an interview that the refusal to grant any marriage licenses may be permissible because the law doesn't require a particular clerk to issue them, except for minors, who must be licensed to marry in the county where they live.

Kim Davis, the Rowan clerk, who took office in December, acknowledged she swore an oath to uphold the Kentucky Constitution, but she said at the time it defined marriage strictly between a man and a woman.

Asked if she was obligated to follow the 5-4 ruling of the Supreme Court that states must allow and recognize same-sex marriage, she said, "You had five lawyers who forced their own vision of what marriage should be on every person in the United States."

Reporter Andrew Wolfson can be reached at (502) 582-7189