The Kentucky County Clerk gained international attention for opposing the US Supreme Court’s 2015 ruling that legalized same-sex marriage. She continues to advocate in court for its reversal.
Kim Davis became a cultural focal point a decade ago, thrusting East Kentucky into the national spotlight as she withheld marriage licenses for several weeks. She later met Pope Francis and was humorously depicted on Saturday Night Live.
Kim Davis Denies Marriage Licenses to Same-Sex Couples
Davis began denying marriage licenses to same-sex couples following the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges on June 26, 2015.
Footage of a same-sex couple confronting Davis over the denied license garnered significant public interest.
She defied a court order to issue licenses until September 2015, when a federal judge found her in contempt and jailed her.
Later, the Kentucky Legislature enacted a law that removed county clerks’ names from marriage licenses throughout the state.
Davis Cites Her Christian Faith
Davis asserted that her faith prohibited her from supporting same-sex marriage. Religious leaders and conservative politicians, including former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and Kentucky’s then-Governor, supported her stance.
Upon her release from prison, Davis told the media that issuing a same-sex marriage license “would contradict God’s definition of marriage as a union between one man and one woman. This would be my act of disobedience to God.”
Davis declined an interview request from the Associated Press regarding the situation.
The Man Denied a License Ran for Her Office
In 2018, one of the men who confronted Davis during her stand for her beliefs ran for her office. David Armold claimed that residents of Rowan County were ready to move past Davis’s actions.
When he submitted his paperwork for the Democratic primary, Republican Davis was present in her capacity as a clerk to sign it. The emotional meeting was a stark contrast to their first encounter three years earlier.
Both candidates ultimately lost—Armold in the primary and Davis in the general election. Davis has not returned to the political arena since.
Ten Years Later, Davis Seeks a Reconsideration of Same-Sex Marriage by the Supreme Court
Davis’s attorney is preparing to file her case with the Supreme Court after it declined to hear her appeal in 2020.
A federal judge ordered Davis to pay Armold and his partner a total of $360,000 in damages and legal fees.
Davis lost her appeal concerning this ruling in the federal court of appeals in March, but she has decided to appeal again to the Supreme Court. Her attorney, Matt Staver, stated that the goal is to affirm Davis’s constitutional rights and “overturn Obergefell.”
Source: apnews.com