Kentucky Governor Squares Off With County Clerk Over Gay Marriage
In the wake of at least one Kentucky county clerk refusing to issue marriage licenses at all, let alone marriage licenses for gay couples governor Steve Beshear has issued an executive order telling all clerks they must issue these marriage licenses. County clerk Casey Davis met with Beshear in order to try and get out of having to issue the licenses. The meeting did not go as well as either party had hoped, considering the governor told Davis to issue marriage licenses or resign office.
Davis said he would not issue any licenses and was willing to go to jail rather than quit. “If that’s what it takes for me to express the freedom of religion that I believe I was born with, I’m willing to do that,” Davis told reporters after his meeting with the governor according to the Courier Journal. Beshear doesn’t see this is an issue of religious freedom, rather an issue of a government employee who isn’t doing their duty. “This morning, I advised Mr. Davis that I respect his right to his own personal beliefs regarding same-sex marriage,” Beshear said. “However, when he was elected, he took a constitutional oath to uphold the United States Constitution.”
