The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit today denied a request from Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis of Kentucky to issue a stay on a lower court’s ruling that orders her to immediately resume issuing marriage licenses – including to same-sex couples – regardless of her religious objections to marriage equality. U.S. District Judge David Bunning had temporarily stayed his order directing her to do so while Davis appealed his decision to the Sixth Circuit.
The judges found that “it cannot be defensibly argued that the holder of the Rowan County Clerk’s office, apart from who personally occupies that office, may decline to act in conformity with the United States Constitution as interpreted by a dispositive holding of the United States Supreme Court. There is thus little or no likelihood that the Clerk in her official capacity will prevail on appeal.”
“Public servants have a responsibility to serve the entire public, including LGBT people,” said JoDee Winterhof, HRC senior vice president for Policy and Political Affairs. “Freedom of religion is important, and Ms. Davis has the fundamental right to believe what she likes, but as a public servant she does not have the right to pick and choose which laws she will follow or which services she will provide. If Ms. Davis feels as though she cannot fulfill her responsibilities, she should resign her public position.”
Davis is represented by the vehemently anti-LGBT Liberty Counsel.
She has the right to believe what she wants but she doesn’t have the right to enforce it on others. She also has to do her job or step down. I’m so tired of religious nut jobs thinking they are superior and deserve more than the rest of society. The church isn’t under attack but they have been attacking others for centuries. Brainwashing has made people crazy. Leave people alone, let them live in peace. Just do your job.