Kentucky gov. removes clerk names from marriage licenses

The move follows a protracted legal battle over issuing such licenses to gay and lesbian couples by Rowan County clerk Kim Davis.

Kentucky’s new governor on Tuesday issued an executive order to adjust marriage licenses to accommodate county clerks who oppose same-sex marriage. That resulted in a legal standoff that worked its way to the Supreme Court and ended after Davis was jailed for a few days and same-sex couples were issued licenses bearing the name of a deputy clerk. A collection of lawsuits involving Davis, the state of Kentucky and several same-sex couples from Rowan County, pending in the federal courts, now might be moot, Staver said.

Under the new executive order, a revised marriage license form will be sent to the offices of all Kentucky county clerks. The American Civil Liberties Union, who is in the midst of suing Davis, has been pressuring U.S. District Judge David Bunning, who put the clerk behind bars for contempt of court, to force her hand, but he has not intervened. Davis also brought up what some say are her hypocritical views on gay marriage being a sin, as Davis herself has been married four times, the AP notes.

Bevin spoke in defense of Davis during his election campaign, and posed for a photo with her in September that he posted on Twitter, saying he was “honored to have Kim Davis and her husband ask for me to visit them in the Carter County jail”.

Executive Order 2015-049 relieves executive branch agencies and vendors of the obligation to comply with the higher minimum wage established by Executive Order 2015-370, except as to classified employees with status who have already received increases as a result of the Executive Order.

Gov. Matt Bevin stated he wanted to protect the “sincerely held religious beliefs of all Kentuckians”.

“Kim Davis wasn’t looking for this fight”, said Tony Perkins, head of the conservative Family Research Council, which gave the 49-year-old county clerk its Cost of Discipleship Award earlier this year. She said telling others about her faith was not “going to make anybody believe anything”.

Although Bevin allied himself closely with Davis during his campaign, and had appeared at the rally celebrating her release from jail, she would not take credit for his victory in November over Democratic challenger Jack Conway. The one restoring rights to non-violent offenders who have already served their sentence.