Supreme Court says Kentucky county clerk must issue marriage licenses to gay couples


On Monday, the Supreme Court rejected without comment a Kentucky county clerk's request to be excused from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
Kim Davis is the elected clerk of Rowan County and an Apostolic Christian opposed to same-sex marriage, The Washington Post reports. Davis said it would violate her religious convictions if she had to issue marriage licenses to gay couples, and has stopped providing licenses to both same-sex and straight couples. If she doesn't start issuing the licenses, she could be held in contempt, and will face daily fines and possibly jail time.
In early August, U.S. District Court Judge David L. Bunning also rejected the argument that her religious beliefs are being violated, saying Davis is "simply being asked to signify that couples meet the legal requirements to marry. Her religious convictions cannot excuse her from performing the duties that she took an oath to perform as Rowan County Clerk."
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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