Hundreds of people gathered outside the Carter County Detention Center in a “Free Kim Davis” rally on Saturday, praying for the Rowan County clerk who was jailed for failing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples.
“She won’t bow, I promise you,” her husband, Joe Davis, told the crowd while dressed in overalls and a camouflage ball cap, USA Today reported. “I’m just an old, dumb, country hillbilly, but I know God.”
Mrs. Davis woke up in jail Saturday morning for the second straight day. She was locked up after U.S. District Judge David Bunning held her in contempt of court for refusing to follow a court injunction requiring her to issue marriage licenses to gay couples.
Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in June legalizing same-sex marriages nationwide, Mrs. Davis stopped issuing marriage licenses all together saying it would violate her religion to issue licenses to same-sex couples.
Many at the rally condemned Judge Bunning. One many held a sign that read: “Judge Bunning is an abomination.”
Flip Benham, an evangelist from North Carolina, praised Judge Bunning’s father, former U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning, as a staunch conservative but ended his kind words there.
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“His son is working against the will of God,” said Mr. Benham, who carried a white cap with the name “Jesus” on it, USA Today reported. “He’s being used by the devil to park Kim here.”
The American Civil Liberties Union, representing couples she turned away, asked that she be fined rather than imprisoned, in part to avoid “a false persecution story,” said Dan Canon, one of the attorneys. But Judge Bunning ordered her to jail anyway, reasoning that she would be unmoved by monetary penalties.
• Kellan Howell can be reached at khowell@washingtontimes.com.
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