Kim Davis says she is no longer trying to block same-sex marriages
Kentucky clerk Kim Davis has claimed that she is no longer blocking same-sex couples from getting married – after changing the licenses so she doesn’t have to sign them.
Davis, the clerk for Rowan County, Kentucky, was briefly jailed earlier this year after she defied court orders to stop blocking same-sex marriage.
In court filings this week, Davis signalled that she is no longer trying to block gay weddings, after altering marriage license forms.
Davis removed her name from the licenses – adding text which instead states the licenses are ‘pursuant to federal court order’.
In legal filings this week seeking to end the case against her, her lawyers claimed that the new licenses “have been approved as being valid by the Kentucky governor and Kentucky attorney general”.
It adds: “Marriage licenses are being issued in Rowan County, which the Kentucky governor and Kentucky attorney general have approved as valid, which are recognized by the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and which are deemed acceptable by the couples who received them.
“Kim has taken all reasonable steps and good faith efforts to substantially comply with this court’s orders.”
Her lawyer Mat Staver, who was condemned by the Jewish Anti-Defamation League for comparing Davis to Jews in the gas chambers, claimed: “It has never really been about a marriage license – Rowan County has issued the licenses – it is about forcing their will on a Christian woman through contempt of court charges, jail, and monetary sanctions.”
