Viral video star and anti-gay Rowan County, Kentucky clerk Kim Davis has to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, so says a federal judge.
U.S. District Judge David Bunning has ruled that Davis must comply with the Supreme Court's decision that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide and that her personal religious beliefs do not supersede her oath of office.
Bunning's ruling was in response to a lawsuit brought against Davis by two Rowan County couples, one gay and one straight. Bunning found that couples should not be forced to travel to another county to accommodate Davis' beliefs.
“Davis is certainly free to disagree with the court's opinion, as many Americans likely do, but that does not excuse her from complying with it,” Bunning wrote. “To hold otherwise would set a dangerous precedent.” […]
County clerks issue marriage licenses in Kentucky, but someone else must “solemnize” the marriage before the license can be filed with the county clerk. Davis argued that by issuing a marriage license to a same-sex couple, she was authorizing that marriage and thus approving it. But Bunning rejected that argument.
“The state is not asking her to condone same-sex unions on moral or religious grounds, nor is it restricting her from engaging in a variety of religious activities,” Bunning wrote. “However, her religious convictions cannot excuse her from performing the duties that she took an oath to perform as Rowan County Clerk.”
David has herself filed a suit against Kentucky governor Steve Beshear whom she alleges violated her religious freedom by insisting she issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
No word yet on whether Davis plans to also sue Judge Bunning for violating her ‘religious liberty.'
