Why is it that gay people get what they want just for being gay?
A former Kentucky county clerk refused to sign a marriage license for a set of gays back in 2015 due to her deeply held religious beliefs. At the time, Kim Davis was sentenced to jail for five days. And now, eight years later, she's being forced to pay $100,000 in damages.
Years ago, after a few failed marriages and conceiving children out of wed-lock, Davis dedicated her life to Christ.
In 2015, Davis said, “Following the death of my godly mother-in-law over four years ago, I went to church to fulfill her dying wish,” adding, “There I heard a message of grace and forgiveness and surrendered my life to Jesus Christ.”
Around the same time, when Davis was a Rowan County Clerk in Kentucky, a gay couple came in asking for their marriage license to be signed. Though gay marriage was legal, Davis’ religious convictions and beliefs motivated her denial to sign. Supposedly the gay couple, David Ermold and David Moore, never thought about getting "married" until after hearing about Davis and her beliefs via social media. So, when they went to get a marriage license, the plaintiffs "created a shame case by intentionally targeting Kim Davis," the Law Firm representing Davis, Liberty Counsel, noted.
They brought news cameras into the office to get the license and “questioned what authority Davis had to deny them the right to marry,” as the Daily Mail framed it. As an answer, Davis reportedly said, “Under God’s authority.”
Following the situation, Davis was arrested and placed in jail for five days over supposedly violating the couple’s constitutional rights, until her staff issued the marriage certificates without her name on them. Keep in mind, this all happened in 2015. EIGHT years ago!
Flash forward to this week when a federal jury decided that Davis must pay $100,000 to the couple she denied a marriage license all those years ago. As Liberty Counsel noted, "the plaintiffs suffered no damages because they could have obtained marriage licenses from any nearby clerk’s office."
Yet, here we are.
In response to this latest news, Twitter users celebrated the continuous attempts to ruin Davis' life over her religious convictions.
“Kim Davis deserves to ROT in PRISON. Paying $100,000 to a couple she discriminated against is not enough! Put her in a cell with a 280 pound lesbian wrestler named Bruna,” one user wrote.
“F**k #kimdavis. That is all,” another said, except their version wasn’t censored.
Another wrote, “Remember this bigoted asshole? Karma does. And she just made it to town.”
Liberty Counsel insisted, "We look forward to appealing this decision and taking this case to the U.S. Supreme Court," according to a press release. But, time will tell what happens there. Supposedly, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Davis' case back in 2020, but perhaps, with different justices and a few wins for religious freedom, things will pan out differently.
The thing is, Davis shouldn’t have to sign something she disagrees with. If she personally believes, based on her Christian values, that marriage is between a man and a woman, she shouldn’t have to agree that it’s anything other than that. This is just like the cake designer who didn’t want to or have to design a cake for a gay couple or the graphic designer who didn’t want to design wedding websites for gay couples. This is religious freedom. Leave her alone.
