The Rowan County Clerk’s Office refused to issue marriage licenses to two same-sex couples on Thursday (August 13), acting in defiance to an order from a federal judge.
Judge David Bunning ruled on Wednesday (August 12) that Rowan Clerk Kim Davis must issue marriage licenses to all couples, despite personal conflicts stemming from her religious beliefs.
Deputies in Davis’s office turned away two gay couples one day after that ruling.
Davis was not on-hand for Thursday’s license refusals. Deputies in the Rowan office say the clerk is “on vacation.”
Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis’s continued failure to issue marriage licenses has some gay couples worried about their future in the county.
William Smith Jr. and his partner James Yates were turned away from the clerk’s office on Thursday. Smith says the deputies were instructed not to issue licenses in Davis’s absence.
“What if they refuse to let us file any joint paperwork because they go against that or you know, both of our names on the car, it’s just…frustrating, exhausting.”
The couple appealed to Rowan Judge-Executive Walter Blevins after being rejected from the clerk’s office. Blevins was also unable to grant them a license, saying he didn’t have the appropriate paperwork.
