The turn of events in Kim Davis’s case, the Kentucky clerk that refused to obey the Supreme Court’s decision to issue marriage licenses, reached its peak Thursday, when she got arrested for defying the court.
Kim Davis gained notoriety when she started refusing to marry gay couples, based on her religious beliefs. “To issue a marriage license which conflicts with God’s definition of marriage, with my name affixed to the certificate, would violate my conscience”, Davis said on one occasion.
She invoked her right to by law to have the freedom of choice, as stated by the First Amendment. However, the Supreme Court did not view the situation the same way as Davis did, which led to her arrest. Roger Gannam, Davis’s legal representative said: “Today, for the first time in history, an American citizen has been incarcerated for having the belief of conscience that marriage is between one man and one woman. It’s unprecedented in American law and it answers the question ‘What will same-sex marriage mean for people of faith?’”. The Court’s response is that no one is above the law and you cannot refuse public services based on your personal beliefs, because that is called discrimination.
Davis’s arrest offered the opportunity that many homosexual couples have expected and many rushed to get their marriage licenses. This is the case of April Miller and Karen Roberts, a lesbian couple, previously denied their right to get married 5 times over. Last time it happened on Tuesday, when Davis invoked her right to refuse them every service, based on her religious grounds.
“We felt humiliated and marginalized” Roberts and Miller said to the press. However, the couple does not seem to hold Davis any grudge, as they declared that her incarceration sadden them. Miller stated: “I’m so sorry that it took a federal judge to get compliance. It’s making me really sad. It was sad that our town got dragged through this.” The couple declared that they are getting married on Friday and that they can’t wait for the day to finally come.
Davis’s case is still going and it’s not easy to predict its outcome. Both Davis, and other clerks, is refusing to comply and say that they are not going to agree to something their God forbids. “She’s still in jail. She will not bend and she will not bow to anybody. That’s our beliefs and that’s what people don’t understand”, her husband declared.
