With clerk jailed, gay Kentucky couples get marriage licenses

Rowan County deputy clerk Brian Mason, left, takes the information from James Yates, and his partner William Smith Jr., right, to complete the application process to issue them a marriage license at the Rowan County Judicial Center in Morehead, Ky., Friday, Sept. 4, 2015. After four attempts, Yates and Smith were the first couple to receive their marriage license, hours after Kim Davis the county's defiant clerk was sent to jail for refusing to issue marriage licenses.
Rowan County deputy clerk Brian Mason, left, takes the information from James Yates, and his partner William Smith Jr., right, to complete the application process to issue them a marriage license at the Rowan County Judicial Center in Morehead, Ky., Friday, Sept. 4, 2015. After four attempts, Yates and Smith were the first couple to receive their marriage license, hours after Kim Davis the county's defiant clerk was sent to jail for refusing to issue marriage licenses.

MOREHEAD, Ky. — At least three gay couples received marriage licenses Friday in Rowan County, embracing and celebrating as the defiant clerk sat remained jailed because she refuses to issue the licenses or allow her deputies to hand them out.

William Smith Jr. and James Yates, a couple for nearly a decade, were the first to receive a marriage license in Rowan County. Deputy clerk Brian Mason issued the license, congratulating the couple and shaking their hands as he smiled. After they paid the license fee of $35.50, Yates rushed across the steps of the courthouse to hug his mom as both cried.

"This means at least for this area that civil rights are civil rights and they are not subject to belief," said Yates, who had been denied a license five times previously.

Later Friday, an attorney Davis said she has a "clean conscience" as she sits in jail for contempt.

Mat Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel, said Friday that the licenses that were handed out Friday are void and "not worth paper that they are written on."

Staver said Davis will appeal the contempt order. He said he met with Davis in jail and she is in very good spirits. He said that he doesn't know how long she will be jailed, but that she has no intention of resigning.

Read Saturday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

photo

This Thursday, Sept. 3, 2015, photo made available by the Carter County Detention Center shows Kim Davis. The Rowan County, Ky. clerk went to jail Thursday for refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples, but five of her deputies agreed to comply with the law, ending a two-month standoff. (Carter County Detention Center via AP)

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