"It's a deep-rooted conviction. My conscience will not allow me to issue a license for a same sex couple. It goes against everything I hold dear, everything sacred in my life."UPDATE 7/23/15: County Clerk Sues for 'Christian Rights,' Refuses 'Gay Marriage'
-- Kim Davis, Clerk (Democrat), Rowan County Kentucky
"If it means that you simply cannot fulfill your duties because of your religious beliefs, what is required of you is that you can no longer hold that office."
-- Sam Marcosson, Louis D. Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville
For background, read Religious Liberty in Homosexualists' Crosshairs
However, read about the new North Carolina law allowing local magistrates to refuse to perform same-sex marriages and still keep their jobs.
Click headlines below to read previous articles:
Homosexuals Force Closure of Iowa Christian Wedding Chapel
Pastors Face Fines, Jail for Refusing 'Gay Wedding'
And read how the Gay Agenda attacks Christians one town at a time across America.
-- From "Kentucky Clerk Sued for Not Issuing Gay-Marriage Licenses" by Claire Galofaro, Associated Press 7/2/15
The American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky filed a federal lawsuit against Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis on Thursday afternoon on behalf of two homosexual and two heterosexual couples, all of whom were turned away when they tried to get marriage licenses from Davis' office this week.
Davis has said that her Christian beliefs prevented her from complying with the Supreme Court decision, so she decided to issue no more marriage licenses to any couple, gay or straight. She could not be reached Thursday after the lawsuit was filed. Her office was already closed and she did not respond to an email.
She is among a handful of judges and clerks across the South who have defied the high court's order, maintaining that the right to "religious freedom" protects them from having to comply.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Same-Sex Marriage Fight Now Goes Local" by Claire Galofaro and Adam Beam, Associated Press 6/30/15
Some judges and clerks in Alabama and Texas have done the same [as Kim Davis of Kentucky], ordering their offices in the name of religious liberty and free speech to issue no marriage licenses at all.
Legal experts are dubious that religious freedom arguments will protect public officials who not only refuse to participate due to their own beliefs, but also decline to make accommodations so that others who don't object can serve the public instead.
Clerks and probate judges hold the keys to marriage in counties around the country, and in many rural areas, there are few alternatives for hundreds of miles. Couples turned away could seek a court order, and a clerk who still refuses to issue a license could be jailed for contempt, [legal expert Sam] Marcosson said.
They also risk criminal official misconduct charges, said Warren County Attorney Ann Milliken, president of the Kentucky County Attorneys Association. The misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail, is committed when a public servant "refrains from performing a duty imposed upon him by law or clearly inherent in the nature of his office."
Casey Davis, the clerk in Casey County, Kentucky, says he won't resign and he'd rather go to jail than issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple. None have yet come in to get one, he said.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "ACLU sues Rowan clerk over marriage licenses" by Phillip M. Bailey, The Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY) 7/2/15
The couples named in the suit filed by the ACLU are April Miller and Karen Roberts; Shantel Burke and Stephen Napier; Jody Fernandez and Kevin Holloway; and L. Aaron Skaggs and Barry W. Spartman.
Gov. Steve Beshear, a Democrat, had defended the state's ban on same-sex marriage, but after the High Court's ruling on June 26, he issued an executive order telling all state agencies and clerks to comply with it.
Casey County Clerk Casey Davis, a Republican, said late Wednesday evening on MSNBC that the governor should provide "some sort of relief" for clerks who have moral objections to the Supreme Court's ruling. He also likened Beshear's order to putting county clerks in "prison."
"I did not take an oath that said I would lay my personal feelings down to do this job nor will I ever do that," Casey Davis said on air. "As a matter of fact I said I would do this job to the best of my ability, so help me God, and the best of my ability does not go beyond what my conscience will allow me to do."
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Ky. clerk defends decision to decline marriage licenses" by Joe Arnold, WHAS-TV11 (Louisville, KY) 6/30/15
[Bill May, Executive Director of the Kentucky County Clerks Association,] said he has been in contact with county clerks who are resisting the Supreme Court decision, advising them that Kentucky law states marriage licenses "shall be issued" by the county clerks and that KRS 522.020 could be used to prosecute the clerks for official misconduct, a Class "A" misdemeanor. A conviction could result in a judge ordering a clerk to be removed from office, May said.
"God is my first love, and I will stand for Him," Davis said. "And if it means I get thrown out of office, we'll deal with that when it comes."
Davis suggests the state issue marriage licenses online, or since the Supreme Court is now defining marriage, then the federal government needs to issue marriage licenses.
"As much as these people out here picketing my office believe in what they are standing up for, I myself have just as equally if not stronger convictions," Davis said, weeping.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Gay Couple to Sue Hood County Clerk Over Marriage License" by Alexa Ura, The Texas Tribune 7/2/15
Attorneys for a same-sex couple are preparing to sue Hood County Clerk Katie Lang after the couple was unable to obtain a marriage license.
Two Austin attorneys representing Jim Cato and Joe Stapleton, who have been together for 27 years, sent a letter to Lang on Thursday demanding that her office issue the couple a marriage license by the end of the business day or risk being sued in federal court Monday morning.
As of Thursday evening, the couple was unable to obtain a marriage license from the county, so attorney Jan Soifer confirmed that they would move forward with filing suit.
Pointing to revised forms available on the Department of State Health Services' website, Soifer and attorney Austin Kaplan wrote that Lang had "absolutely no valid reason" to delay issuing marriage licenses.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "ACLU Letter to County Clerks: You Are Legally Required to Issue Marriage Licenses to Same-Sex Couples" by Press Release, ENEWSPF 7/2/15
County clerks face legal perils if they fail to issue marriage licenses to eligible same-sex couples, stated the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Texas in letters sent to select county clerk offices in Texas yesterday. The letters explain in detail the legal obligations of public officials following the United States Supreme Court’s ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges.
The ACLU of Texas sent the letters to clerks in counties where residents have reported recalcitrance over issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Despite SCOTUS ruling in favor of same-sex marriage, resistance in TX county remains" by CNN 7/3/15
"I would like to issue a statement that I will not be issuing same-sex marriage licenses due to my religious convictions," Katie Lang wrote in a statement posted on the county clerk's website.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton lashed out after Friday's ruling, calling the right to same-sex marriages "fabricated" and "newly invented" -- language Lang parroted in her statement -- and said judges "may claim that the government cannot force them to conduct same-sex wedding ceremonies over their religious objections."
If those judges are sued or fined, "numerous lawyers" stand willing to defend their rights, and "I will do everything I can as attorney general to be a public voice for those standing in defense of their religious beliefs," Paxton said in a statement and on social media.
Leaning on Paxton's guidance, Lang said Tuesday, "We find that although it fabricated a new constitutional right in 2015, the Supreme Court did not diminish, overrule, or call into question the First Amendment rights to free exercise of religion that formed the first freedom in the Bill of Rights in 1791."
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Decatur County clerk, employees resign over same-sex ruling" by Tyler Whetstone, The Jackson Tennessee Sun 7/1/15
The three officers in the Decatur County Clerk's Office have resigned from their positions because of their opposition to the Supreme Court's decision on same-sex marriage, a county official said today.
According to Decatur County Commissioner David Boroughs, County Clerk Gwen Pope and employees Sharon Bell and Mickey Butler have all resigned because of religious opposition to the ruling.
Boroughs said he confirmed the resignations after speaking with County Mayor Mike Creasy.
"That's a personal individual decision, but I strongly support them if their faith is that strong," Boroughs said. "I'm proud of them that their faith is so strong and well-rounded that they feel they can do that."
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Grenada Circuit Clerk resigns over same-sex marriage" by Therese Apel and Kate Royals, The Clarion-Ledger (Jackson, MS) 6/30/15
In a letter to the board of supervisors, Grenada County Circuit Clerk Linda Barnette announced her resignation on Tuesday, citing the Supreme Court's decision to legalize same-sex marriage.
Barnette has been the circuit clerk for 24 years, and announced that her resignation is effective immediately.
"The Supreme Court's decision violates my core values as a Christian," she wrote. "My final authority is the Bible. I cannot in all good conscience issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples under my name because the Bible clearly teaches that homosexuality is contrary to God's plan and purpose for marriage and family."
"I choose to obey God rather than man," Barnette wrote.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
Click headlines below to read how Christians are becoming unemployable:
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Homosexualists Force Pro-marriage Internet CEO Resignation
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Also read Gay Agenda will be Complete when Christians are Muzzled, Say Homosexualists as well as Senator Ted Cruz Says the Gay Agenda Ends Christian Liberty
