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Kentucky clerks to license same-sex marriages as their boss is jailed

A protester waives a rainbow flag outside the Carl D. Perkins Federal Building in Ashland, Ky., Thursday, Sept. 3, 2015.
A protester waives a rainbow flag outside the Carl D. Perkins Federal Building in Ashland, Ky., Thursday, Sept. 3, 2015. A protester waives a rainbow flag outside the Carl D. Perkins Federal Building in Ashland, Ky., Thursday, Sept. 3, 2015.

By Associated Press 5 min read

ASHLAND, Ky. — A defiant county clerk went to jail Thursday for refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples, but five of her deputies agreed to end the church-state standoff in Rowan County, Kentucky.

U.S. District Judge David Bunning said he had no choice but to jail Kim Davis for contempt after she insisted that her “conscience will not allow” her to follow federal court rulings on gay marriage.

Read more

* Judge declines divorce case, citing gay marriage ruling * Kentucky clerk jailed for refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples* Kentucky clerk hailed in Womick’s bid to stop same-sex couples from marrying

“God’s moral law conflicts with my job duties,” Davis told the judge before she was taken away. “You can’t be separated from something that’s in your heart and in your soul.”

The judge later tried to keep Davis out of jail after all, saying she could go free if her staff agreed to comply with the law and she agreed not to interfere.