Anti-gay-marriage clerk leaves jail
GRAYSON, Kentucky — The Kentucky county clerk who was jailed for refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples was released Tuesday after five days behind bars, emerging to a tumultuous reception from thousands of cross-waving supporters.
“I just want to give God the glory. His people have rallied, and you are strong,” Kim Davis told the crowd after stepping outside, her arms raised like a victorious boxer, to the blaring Rocky theme song Eye of the Tiger. She added: “Keep on pressing.”
Her lawyer refused to say whether she would defy the courts again.
“Kim cannot and will not violate her conscience,” said Mat Staver, founder of the Liberty Counsel, the Christian law firm representing Davis. As for whether she will issue licences, Staver said only: “You’ll find out in the near future.”
The Rowan County clerk whose jailing helped make her a hero to the religious right in the U.S. walked free after the federal judge who ordered her locked up lifted the contempt order against her, saying he was satisfied that her deputies were fulfilling their obligation to grant licences to same-sex couples in her absence.
But U.S. District Judge David Bunning also warned Davis not to interfere again.
As the news spread, a crowd of dozens of supporters who had gathered on the jailhouse lawn for a pre- viously scheduled rally swelled. They broke into Amazing Grace and God Bless America and waved signs, flags and large white crosses.
Davis emerged next to Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee and her husband, who was in blue dungarees and a straw hat. Huckabee and fellow Republican White House candidate Sen. Ted Cruz visited her in jail after the decision came down.
“If somebody has to go to jail, I’m willing to go in her place. I believe that,” said Huckabee, a former Baptist minister and Arkansas governor. He added: “She has shown more courage than any politician I know. She not only said something, she was willing to put her life at risk.”