Kim Davis: Kentucky Clerk Remains Defiant On Gay Marriage

September 22, 2015 11:40 AM EDT

Kim Davis, the county clerk in Kentucky who spent five days in jail for refusing to give marriage licenses to same-sex couples, has returned to work but is now accused of deliberately spoiling licenses handed out by her deputies while she was imprisoned.

Davis, who has refused to issue licenses to both straight and gay couples since the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in June, was jailed in early September for failing to carry out her official duties as Rowan County clerk. Deputies in her office resumed issuing marriage licenses, including to same sex couples.

But attorneys representing four couples seeking marriage licenses from her office allege that Davis changed the forms, deleting references to herself, the county clerk’s office and her deputies, and adding the note “pursuant to a Federal Court Order,” rendering the legality of the documents questionable. “They’re not valid in God’s eyes, for one,” Davis said in an interview with ABC News aired Tuesday morning.

Lawyers for the couples seeking marriages licenses have asked the court to step in yet again to enforce the court order legalizing gay marriage throughout the United States. “The adulterated marriage licenses received by Rowan County couples will effectively feature a stamp of animus against the LGBT community, signaling that, in Rowan County, the government’s position is that LGBT couples are second-class citizens unworthy of official recognition and authorization of their marriage licenses but for this Court’s intervention and Order,” ACLU lawyers representing the couples wrote in a court filing.

In her ABC News interview Davis said she’s been called Hitler, a hypocrite and a homophobe since she was rocketed into the public eye for her refusal to issue marriage licenses over her religious objections to gay marriage. “I’ve been called things and names that I didn’t even say when I was in the world,” she said. “Those names don’t hurt me.”

Davis’ lawyers earlier asked for an injunction from the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals to remove Davis’s name from marriage licenses, allowing the county to issue licenses while accommodating Davis’s religious objections. The lawyers argued the accommodation was required under Kentucky’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which says that government cannot burden someone’s religious freedom without a compelling government interest.

Davis was elected to her position in November 2014 and, as TIME’s Josh Sanburn wrote earlier this month:

[She] can only be officially removed through an impeachment, says University of Kentucky law professor Scott Bauries. But that isn’t likely. The Kentucky General Assembly, which would bring impeachment proceedings, currently isn’t in session. While Gov. Steve Beshear, a Democrat, could theoretically call a special session, experts say the divided legislature would side with Rowan. “She’s probably got enough supporters that she wouldn’t be impeached anyway,” Bauries says.

Rowan County Attorney Cecil Watkins has also referred the case to the state attorney general to investigate whether Davis engaged in official misconduct, specifically over her refusal to perform official duties. “We’re reviewing that matter,” Leland Hulbert, a spokesperson for the Kentucky attorney general’s office, said last week. “Whether or not our office assigns a special prosecutor about possible criminal charges, that is probably yet to be determined.”

The clerk could resign of course — but she ruled that out in a statement released by her law firm Liberty Counsel. “Some people have said I should resign, but I have done my job well,” Davis wrote. “To issue a marriage license which conflicts with God’s definition of marriage, with my name affixed to the certificate, would violate my conscience. … I intend to serve the people of Rowan County, but I cannot violate my conscience.”

In June, the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. Soon after, Davis began her standoff with federal judges, citing “God’s authority” and her Christian beliefs. She filed a lawsuit in federal court after Gov. Beshear ordered the state’s clerks to issue same-sex marriage licenses, but both a district court judge and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Davis, who then appealed to the Supreme Court. A district court granted Davis a stay, which expired last week, and the Supreme Court rejected an emergency motion filed by Davis to extend that stay.

Davis has become a minor celebrity among social conservatives, drawing praise from Republican presidential candidates including former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.

Portraits of the Gay Marriage Revolution

**Elaine Harley**, 43, graphic designer & **Mignon R. Moore**, 42, professor at UCLA Together for 11 years, married in New York City in March 2012, live in Los Angeles Elaine (left): “For me, marriage was the natural next step in the progression of our lives together. Marriage represents stability. After getting married I found that people had more respect for our union, and it gave our relationship a greater sense of legitimacy in society.”Peter Hapak for TIME

**Sarah Kate Ellis-Henderson**, 41, marketing executive & **Kristen Ellis-Henderson**, 42, songwriter and guitarist Together for 8 years, married in St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Sea Cliff, N.Y. in October 2011, parents to 4-year-olds Thomas and Kate, live in Sea Cliff, N.Y. Kristen (right): “Sarah and I got married shortly after equality passed in New York State. It's difficult to put into words what it felt like to validate our relationship that way in front of our family, friends, and neighbors. I often get choked up with emotion when trying to talk about it. Exhilarating. Justifying. Romantic. Amazing. None of those words individually captures it. Since becoming mothers, our tireless efforts for equality are more for our children than ourselves. We think of our kids on the playground with every other child they are growing up with - most have married parents. And now our children do too.”Peter Hapak for TIME

**Jake Harrison**, 31, interior design & **Christopher Cunningham**, 38, talent agent Together for 4 years, live in Los Angeles Jake (left): “I have friends who are married in the state of New York. I never wanted to do it unless it would be everything that comes with it – 100%. If this becomes a federally recognized thing, it’s a game changer. We live a very married life. We’ve lived together for a couple of years. It’s not that there would be any major changes there, but it would be nice not just for paperwork, but to have something that would validate it to other people.”Peter Hapak for TIME

**Jake Harrison**, 31, interior design & **Christopher Cunningham**, 38, talent agent Together for 4 years, live in Los Angeles Christopher (right): “We met in Brooklyn in 2008 and we pretty much knew a week in that we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together. Getting married always seemed like something that wasn’t an option and never would be so we tried not to think about it too much. We knew we were happily committed and we made do with that. Now, just because of the way things are changing so quickly, we might get married.”Peter Hapak for TIME

**Russell Hart**, 31, hair salon owner & **Eric LaBonté**, 42, film and television set designer Together for 7 years, legal domestic partners, engaged since 2010, live in Los Angeles Russell (left): “I don’t necessarily need a piece of paper to tell me that my relationship with my partner is valid, but we think about having kids and I am constantly terrified about the little harried details that no one wants to deal with. If something happens to one of us, it could potentially get crazy. Straight married couples don’t realize how lucky they are to have all that wrapped up in a marriage.”Peter Hapak for TIME

**Eric LaBonté**, 42, film and television set designer & **Russell Hart**, 31, hair salon owner Together for 7 years, legal domestic partners, engaged since 2010, live in Los Angeles Eric (left): “My parents have been married for 45 years and I always knew that was something that I wanted. I want our children to say, ‘My daddies are married.’ We wanted to feel like a complete package.”Peter Hapak for TIME

**Miguel Blanco**, 34, freelance art director & **Alexander Hammer**, 33, film and video editor Together for 9 years, married in September 2011 in New York City, followed by a commitment ceremony in Florida, live in New York City Alexander (right): “We did domestic partnership. And nothing happened to me then. We went back to the same courthouse [to get married]. I was just thinking it was a piece of paper. I was surprised at how it was a completely different thing. We were going to do it on a Friday during lunch. I called my mom and she told my brother and his wife and Miguel told his family. The ones that could came. That made it very special. It took me a little while to say it: This is my husband.”Peter Hapak for TIME

How Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis Is Still Objecting to Same-Sex Marriage

Portraits of the Gay Marriage Revolution

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