FINALLY! Marriage Equality Arrives in Rowan County, Kentucky

“Last Friday, the needless wait for loving and committed couples in Rowan County, Kentucky, has finally ended,” said HRC Legal Director Sarah Warbelow. “Denied a constitutionally protected right to marriage by a public official who thought her religious opinion placed her above the law, these couples waited far too long for marriage equality in the place they call home. Justice, equality, and the law have finally prevailed.”

Citing “God’s authority,” the county clerk, Kim Davis, had refused to issue marriage licenses despite being ordered to follow the law by a federal judge and despite being denied stays on that order at all levels, including the Supreme Court of the United States. Davis was held in contempt of court on Thursday, September 3, after which the majority of her deputy clerks agreed to begin issuing marriage licenses in accordance with the law.

Photo By Kurt Löwenstein Educational Center International Team from Germany (qe07 (9)) [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons