Kentucky Marriage Licenses No Longer Need County Clerks’ Names: Governor

She was jailed over her contempt of court and the argument made its way to the state’s highest court, where a judge ruled Davis would have to issue the licenses, despite the evident discomfort she felt signing off on equal rights for gay couples.

“How ironic that god would use a person like me, who failed so miserably at marriage in the world, to defend it now”, she said. “The Lord picks the unlikely source to convey the message”.

In a news release Tuesday, Bevin said he has issued an executive order directing the Kentucky Department of Libraries and Archives to issue the revised marriage license forms to all county clerks.

It was unclear what effect Bevin’s executive order would have on the case of Davis, who made Kentucky a focal point in the debate over gay marriage in the United States when she refused to issue any marriage licenses even after the U.S. Supreme Court in June made gay marriage legal across the United States. “The requirement that the county clerk’s name appear on marriage licenses is prescribed by Kentucky law and is not subject to unilateral change by the governor”.

“To ensure that the sincerely held religious beliefs of all Kentuckians are honored, I took action to revise the clerk marriage license form”, Bevin said in a statement. At issue were the forms the county clerks in Kentucky used.

She added: “No one would ever have remembered a county clerk that just said …”

All felons who have had their voting rights restored as a result of Beshear’s executive ordered still retain those rights, but Bevin’s order halts further restorations.

“He said that if he were governor he would’ve issued an executive order protecting religious freedom of Kim Davis – and now that he is governor – that’s in fact what he did”. He announced that all clerks will have their names yanked off the licenses so as to not to force any of them to have to put their stamp of approval on something that they may feel violates their religion.

Davis was a Democrat but recently changed to the Republican party. “But I’m not a politician”, she said.

FILE – In this December 8, 2015, file photo, Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin speaks to the spectators gathered on the steps of the Kentucky Capitol following his public swearing in ceremony, in Frankfort, Ky.

Bevin handily defeated the Democratic challenger in the election for Beshear’s vacant seat, and part of Bevin’s campaign included a promise to address the issue of the state’s marriage license forms.