A county clerk in Kentucky defied a federal judge's order by continuing to refuse to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, as the legal case is still pending.
A Kentucky county clerk's office defied a federal judge's order by continuing to refuse to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples on Thursday, saying the legal case was still pending.
The Lexington Herald-Leader reported the Rowan County clerk's office had turned away David Moore and David Ermold, a gay couple seeking a marriage license, the newspaper said. Moore and Ermold could not immediately be reached to comment. Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis is currently on vacation but Nathan Davis, a relative who also works at the clerk's office, said Thursday morning the office was not currently taking licenses because of the active litigation. He declined further comment.
Kim Davis stopped issuing all marriage licenses following the late June ruling by the US Supreme Court that legalised gay marriage. She previously said her religious beliefs as an Apostolic Christian prevented her from issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples.
Lawyers for Davis, who filed an appeal shortly after US District Court Judge David Bunning issued a preliminary injunction on Wednesday ordering her office to process license applications from all couples, filed a motion with Bunning's office to stay the injunction until an appellate court could render its decision. "We're taking it up to a higher court to do an expedited appeal," said Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, which is representing Davis' office. "And we got the motion to stay pending. So, we're going to wait and see what happens on that motion to stay."
Staver said it was premature to discuss what would happen if the stay was denied.
Bunning said on Wednesday that Davis had to live up to her responsibilities as county clerk. "Davis remains free to practise her Apostolic Christian beliefs," he wrote in his decision. "She is even free to believe that marriage is a union between one man and one woman, as many Americans do. However, her religious convictions cannot excuse her from performing the duties that she took an oath to perform as Rowan County Clerk."
Shortly after the Supreme Court ruling, Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear issued an order to the state's 120 county clerks to begin processing same-sex marriage licenses. A few decided to disregard it because of what they said was their Christian belief that marriage can be only between a man and a woman.
Read: Same-sex couples in Texas refused marriage licenses despite SCOTUS ruling
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