Just one day after a defiant Kentucky clerk asked the U.S. Supreme Court to allow her to refuse to sign marriage licenses for same-sex couples, marriage equality supporters descended on the Rowan County Clerk's Office with a message.
"Gay or straight, black or white, marriage is a civil right!" chanted an estimated 100 people as they marched down Main Street in Morehead, Ky., according to The Morehead News.
But that didn't thwart the protestor's plans, as an organizer urged attendees on the event's Facebook page to "please plan on attending and help make our voice heard loud and clear that we will not back down until everyone has their right to marry returned in Rowan County!"
Davis, who has served as a county clerk for approximately 30 years, is the metaphorical and literal poster-woman for the small group of Kentucky clerks refusing to abide by the U.S. Supreme Court's June ruling that ordered legal marriage equality nationwide.
After Davis and her staffers repeatedly turned away same-sex couples requesting marriage licenses, four couples (two gay and two straight) sued Davis in federal court, arguing that her office's refusal to issue marriage licenses to any couple -- regardless of gender -- violated their constitutional rights.
Davis, who is being represented by the right-wing Liberty Counsel, a certified anti-LGBT hate group, continues to contend that performing the duties of her job and signing the marriage license of a same-sex couple violates her "deeply held" religious convictions. Davis maintains that her Christian beliefs preclude her from licensing same-sex marriages, and her staff have ceased licensing any marriages in order to avoid serving same-sex couples.
On August 12, U.S. District Judge David Bunning ruled that Davis's religious beliefs do not exempt her from performing her duties as a government official, and ordered her to provide marriage licenses. In his ruling, Bunning wrote that Davis "is refusing to recognize the legal force of U.S. Supreme Court jurisprudence in performing her duties" and her "religious convictions cannot excuse her from performing the duties that she took an oath to perform as Rowan County Clerk."
On Wednesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit rejected Davis's request for a stay of Bunning's order, which requires her to issue licenses to all eligible couples beginning Monday.
By Friday, attorneys for Davis filed an emergency appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, asking the high court to put Bunning's order on hold for as long as it takes her to appeal the ruling underlying it, which could take months.
That emergency petition to the Supreme Court contends that requiring Davis to issue and sign a marriage license for a same-sex couple would be a "searing act of validation" that "would forever echo in her conscience." The order for her to license same-sex unions "demands that she either fall in line (her conscience be damned) or leave office (her livelihood and job for three-decades in the clerk's office be damned)."
Davis's emergency appeal to the Supreme Court will be considered by Justice Elena Kagan, who oversees such actions originating from the Sixth Circuit. She can refuse the appeal, grant it, ignore it, or send it to the full court; Davis's lawyers have asked that Kagan (one of the five justices who ruled for marriage equality) refer the matter to the full court if she does not wish to grant a stay.
Meanwhile, two other Kentucky county clerks have likewise refused to license same-sex unions, also citing religious beliefs. Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear has said all clerks should comply with the Supreme Court's June ruling, and issue licenses to both same-sex and opposite-sex couples -- or resign their positions.
All photos via photographer Rikka Wallin, posted on the Protest Rally for Equality Facebook event page.
