Kim Davis is back in the office, and she hasn’t changed her mind.
"Effective immediately, and until an accommodation is provided, by those with the authority to provide it, any marriage license issued by my office will not be issued or authorized by me," she said Monday, NPR reported.
The Kentucky county clerk returned to her job days after she was released from jail. She spent five nights there after refusing to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples in Rowan County. Davis said Monday she won’t stop her deputies from issuing licenses to gay couples. But “any unauthorized license that they issue will not have my name, my title or my authority on it,” she said. “Instead, the license will state that they are issued pursuant to a federal court order.” The Kentucky attorney general’s office said Monday afternoon that such licenses are valid.
Davis had not issued the documents to gay or straight couples since shortly after the Supreme Court decision in June that legalized same-sex marriage, citing her religious beliefs as an Apostolic Christian. In July, four couples, two gay and two straight, sued Davis, saying that she must fulfill her duties as an elected official despite her religious objections. In August, a federal district judge ordered Davis to begin issuing licenses to all legally eligible couples. She continued to turn couples away, however, and was held in contempt of court. Davis was released from jail after her deputy clerks did the paperwork in her absence.
