Kim Davis won't interfere with deputy clerks

Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis will not interfere with her deputies issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, but she questioned the validity of documents handed out without her consent.

Davis, the Kentucky official at the center of a religious liberty fight over same-sex marriage, read a statement to reporters before returning to work today. She spent five days over the Labor Day weekend in jail after she defied a federal judge’s order to start issuing marriage licenses—an act she said would violate her conscience. After her deputies issued licenses in her absence and the judge released her from jail, Davis took a few days off work to consider her options.

“I don’t want to have this conflict,” she said this morning. “I don’t want to be in the spotlight. And I certainly don’t want to be a whipping post. I am no hero. I’m just a person that’s been transformed by the grace of God, who wants to work, be with my family. I just want to serve my neighbors quietly without violating my conscience.”

Davis’ stance has brought the front lines of the battle for religious liberty to a small Kentucky town not used to the spotlight. During the last few weeks, Davis’ supporters and throngs of national media have clogged the streets in Morehead and filled the plaza in front of the Rowan County Courthouse. This morning, about 100 reporters gathered in front of the building’s entrance. Behind them, Davis’ supporters waved signs and prayed as they listened to Christian music blaring from loud speakers.

Under Kentucky law, marriage licenses bear the county clerk’s name. Because she believes in the biblical definition of marriage between one man and one woman, Davis said she cannot in good conscience have her name attached to a license issued to a gay couple. After the U.S. Supreme Court legalized gay marriage nationwide, Davis stopped issuing all marriage licenses.

Four couples sued—two gay and two straight—and U.S. District Judge David Bunning sided with them, ordering Davis to issue the licenses. When she refused, he ruled her in contempt of court and threw her in jail.

Davis has appealed to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. She wants an accommodation that allows her to keep her job without having to authorize the licenses. Her deputies removed her name from the licenses they issued while she was in jail, but Davis maintains that doesn’t change the law. She also suggested those licenses might not be legally valid, although the Kentucky governor, the attorney general, and the county attorney all dispute that.

Only the Kentucky legislature can change the way marriage licenses are issued, but Gov. Steven Beshear refused to call a special session to consider the matter. Lawmakers will not return to the state capital until January.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.