Tag: Rowan county

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County Clerk Kim Davis Returns To Work Refusing To Sign Marriage Licenses

Returning to work today, Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis made a statement that she will not issue or sign any marriage licenses, but will not interfere with her deputy clerks from doing so.

“I am here before you this morning as I return to work to say that I love my lord Jesus, I love all people, and I love my job,” declared Davis. “I want to continue to serve all three as I have tried to do until now….”

“Effective immediately, and until an access is provided by those with authority to provide it, any license issued by my office will not issued or authorized by my me,” she explained.

“I want the whole world to know, no mistake about it, that my deputy clerks do not have the authority to issue a license whatsoever. If any of them feels that they must issue an unauthorized license to avoid being thrown in jail, I understand their tough choice and I will take no action against them.”

“Any unauthorized license that they will issue will not have my name, my title, or my authority on it,” she added. “Instead, they will say that they are issued pursuant to a federal court order.”

Shannon and Carmine Wampler-Collins were issued a marriage license by Rowan County Deputy Clerk Brian Mason this morning as “Christian” objectors inside the office shouted taunts of eternal damnation and “homosexual sodomy.”

But remember kids, Davis doesn’t hate anyone. She just wants to observe her religion in peace. Right?

Buzzfeed’s Dominic Holden notes that cheers went up for Mason as he processed the license.

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With No County Clerk’s Name On Rowan County Marriage Licenses, Are They Valid?

Click to enlarge pic

There may be a complication with the marriage licenses being issued to same-sex couples today in Rowan County as the licenses have no County Clerk’s name on them.

Rather than be filled in with the name of an authorized deputy Clerk, the blank usually reserved for the County Clerk merely says “Rowan County.”

Via Buzzfeed:

Brian Mason, the deputy clerk who issued the license to the couple minutes before, told BuzzFeed News that Davis’s name had appeared in that field in all 99 licenses issued before the Supreme Court’s marriage equality decision in June. “Her name goes there, yeah,” Mason said. “But she is not here. I don’t have her permission. I don’t have her consent.” He would not comment on who instructed him to replace her name with the words “Rowan County.”

However, Chief Deputy Roberta Eaerly told BuzzFeed News, “As a group we decided to issue [the licenses] from Rowan County.”

Asked what gave staff the authority to omit Davis’s name, Earley said, “I have no other comment.”

Mason told BuzzFeed News that in Thursday’s contempt-of-court hearing, Judge Bunning acknowledged it was unclear if licenses issued without Davis’s authority were valid. “That is why the judge said marriage licenses may not be valid,” Mason said. “We don’t know. No one could give us an answer.”

UPDATE: According to Yahoo News, Kim Davis asserts that the marriage licenses issued today are “not worth the paper they are written on” because she didn’t authorize them, her attorney said.

The Rowan County attorney and lawyers for today’s couples say Davis’ claims are incorrect.

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Rowan County Clerk’s Office Begins Issuing Same-Sex Couples Marriage Licenses

In what will hopefully by the final scene in a drama long drawn out by one woman’s ego, the Rowan County Clerk’s office began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

From the Lexington-Herald Leader:

James Yates and William Smith Jr. paid $35.50 and filled out paperwork early Friday to become the first couple to get a marriage license in Rowan County since the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage June 26. Another couple soon followed.

With Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis in jail on civil contempt charges for defying a judge’s order to resume issuing licenses, deputy clerk Brian Mason ended the office’s two-month license ban by politely serving Yates and Smith on Friday, even congratulating them and shaking their hands afterward.

“Love won!” marriage equality protesters shouted outside the Rowan County courthouse as the men emerged.

Rowan County Judge-Executive Walter “Doc” Blevins passively watched the crowds chanting and singing, and the news crews doing live stand-ups, and said he wished “it would all end soon.”

“If Kim will just agree to come back and do her duty, then she would get out of jail,” Blevins said. “The keys to her cell are in her own hands. But I don’t think she’s going to back down.”

After their 6th try, Smith and Yates leave the Rowan County Court House with their marriage license
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County Clerk Kim Davis: Issuing Same-Sex Marriage Licenses Would Send Me To Hell

Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis has released this statement about her current predicament (of her own making) regarding her failure to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Via Liberty Counsel:

“I have worked in the Rowan County Clerk’s office for 27 years as a Deputy Clerk and was honored to be elected as the Clerk in November 2014, and took office in January 2015. I love my job and the people of Rowan County. I have never lived any place other than Rowan County. Some people have said I should resign, but I have done my job well. This year we are on track to generate a surplus for the county of 1.5 million dollars.

“In addition to my desire to serve the people of Rowan County, I owe my life to Jesus Christ who loves me and gave His life for me. Following the death of my godly mother-in-law over four years ago, I went to church to fulfill her dying wish. There I heard a message of grace and forgiveness and surrendered my life to Jesus Christ. I am not perfect. No one is. But I am forgiven and I love my Lord and must be obedient to Him and to the Word of God.

“I never imagined a day like this would come, where I would be asked to violate a central teaching of Scripture and of Jesus Himself regarding marriage. To issue a marriage license which conflicts with God’s definition of marriage, with my name affixed to the certificate, would violate my conscience. It is not a light issue for me. It is a Heaven or Hell decision. For me it is a decision of obedience. I have no animosity toward anyone and harbor no ill will.

“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, which is protected under the First Amendment, the Kentucky Constitution, and in the Kentucky Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Our history is filled with accommodations for people’s religious freedom and conscience. I want to continue to perform my duties, but I also am requesting what our Founders envisioned – that conscience and religious freedom would be protected. That is all I am asking. I never sought to be in this position, and I would much rather not have been placed in this position. I have received death threats from people who do not know me. I harbor nothing against them. I was elected by the people to serve as the County Clerk. I intend to continue to serve the people of Rowan County, but I cannot violate my conscience.”

It’s worth noting that on many occasions Davis has issued marriage licenses to folks who have been divorced, which is also a no-no in the Bible. She has no problem ignoring some tenets of the Bible, but her focus on same-sex marriage is almost an obsession.

It’s clear her decision to discriminate against same-sex couples is about her personal animus for LGBT folks, and not her “deeply held” religious beliefs.

Davis has been summoned to a federal court hearing on Thursday morning, along with her full squad of deputy clerks, on possible contempt of court charges.

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News Round-Up: August 31, 2015

Some news stories you may have missed:

• It’s time for Monday Men At Work (see above)

• The gay couple in Rowan County, Kentucky, who have been denied a marriage license three times have filed a lawsuit in federal court against the county government and County Clerk Kim Davis.

• A man with a 19″ penis says it makes working and having a social dating life impossible.

• Fox and Friends host Elizabeth Hasselbeck doesn’t understand why the #BlackLivesMatter movement hasn’t been named a “hate group.” Seriously.

• Five HIV+ men offer advice to their younger selves about surviving and thriving post-diagnosis.

• Kentucky County Clerk Kim Davis is running out of time and options in her fight to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Time to do your job, Ms. Davis.

• Ellen DeGeneres announces GapKids x ED, a new collection for Gap Kids that is for every girl no matter “whether they skateboard or dance, wear dresses or jeans, build forts or paint rainbows, or everything in between.”