Born and raised in rural Kentucky, Kim Davis never lived anywhere other than Rowan County. Kim’s family had a history of public service in the tiny county of 24,000 souls — her mother having served as County Clerk for decades. Kim served as her mother’s Deputy Clerk for 26 years. When Kim’s mother retired in 2014, the people elected Kim as their Clerk.

Kim never dreamed her public service would lead to federal prison. What landed Kim behind bars had roots in a deathbed discussion she had with her mother-in-law four years before.

“I wasn’t a good woman, but I was a good mom,” says Kim of that earlier time in her life. She’d been married and divorced multiple times. But as Kim’s mother-in-law lay dying, she begged Kim to get right with God.

“I went to church to fulfill her dying wish,” Kim says. “There I heard a message of grace and forgiveness and surrendered my life to Jesus Christ.” That message changed Kim’s life. “I am not perfect. No one is. But I am forgiven,” she says. Because of that grace, Kim fell in love with the Lord, and realized she “must be obedient to Him and to the Word of God.”

On Friday, June 26, 2015, five activist lawyers in Obergefell v. Hodges invented “same-sex marriage.” Just days later, Kim Davis had a big decision to make — violate the deathbed promise and her devotion to the Lord or use her name and authority to sanction something God did not.

“I never imagined a day like this would come, where I would be asked to violate a central teaching of Scripture and of Jesus Himself regarding marriage,” Kim says. “To issue a marriage license which conflicts with God’s definition of marriage, with my name affixed to the certificate, would violate my conscience. It is not a light issue for me. It is a Heaven-or-Hell decision. For me, it is a decision of obedience.”

“I have no animosity toward anyone and harbor no ill will,” Kim says. This “is a matter of religious liberty, which is protected under the First Amendment, the Kentucky Constitution and in the Kentucky Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Our history is filled with accommodations for people’s religious freedom and conscience.”

Kim asked then-KY Gov. Steve Beshear and the courts for reasonable accommodation to remove her name and authoritative title as the Clerk of Rowan County from the marriage licenses. Kim says she was requesting what our Founders envisioned — that conscience and religious freedom would be protected. As Kim awaited the governor’s response, she stopped issuing marriage licenses to anyone.

But two men, David Moore and David Ermold, who readily admitted they had never even thought about getting married until they heard Kim was refusing to issue marriage certificates, decided to target Kim for public humiliation while mocking and shaming her faith.

The men could have driven to any of the other nearby clerk’s offices to get a license. Instead, they repeatedly traveled to Kim’s office to record themselves harassing Kim, then posted the videos online in hopes of becoming internet famous for mocking this soft-spoken Christian woman.

It worked. Their videos went viral, and the two Davids even landed a full spread in GQ Magazine to gloat about their harassment campaign and how much they hate religious accommodation.

And a Kentucky judge decided to throw Kim into federal prison for six days. I will never forget the day I visited this quiet woman in prison, dressed in the orange jumpsuit required for prison garb.

Shortly after taking office, Republican Gov. Matt Bevin granted Kim’s religious exemption and worked with the Kentucky Legislature to ensure ALL clerks and state employees retained the right to religious accommodation.

But the haters weren’t done with Kim. Eight years later, the same judge that threw Kim in jail for demanding her religious freedom rights be honored has now issued a judgment designed to bankrupt this humble public servant and her family. The judge has ordered a judgment in excess of 350,000 dollars because David Ermold — the man who repeatedly drove out of his way to publicly humiliate Kim — claimed his feelings were hurt. This judgment effectively erases the religious freedom rights Kim fought so hard to restore. Liberty Counsel is appealing.

This case is now before the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. From there, we intend to take this case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, where we will argue that the wrongfully decided Obergefell case should be overturned.

In response to our emergency request to review this case in 2020, Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito said: “This petition implicates important questions about the scope of our decision in Obergefell.”

“Since Obergefell,” Justice Thomas continued, “parties have continually attempted to label people of good will as bigots merely for refusing to alter their religious beliefs in the wake of prevailing orthodoxy."

We intend to take Kim’s case back to the Supreme Court to (1) win the right to religious accommodation, and (2) overturn Obergefell.

Help us defend our RIGHT to religious freedom. Help us overturn Obergefell. If we allow even one person’s religious liberty to be stolen, then ALL our freedom is at risk. Please, give generously to our today and a special Challenge Grant will DOUBLE the impact of your gift.

By the way, those six days Kim spent in prison? Well, Kim spent that time reading Paul’s letters written when he was incarcerated. Kim sang hymns. Her faith became so well known in prison that convicts from the maximum-security unit sent Kim notes of thanks and encouragement. Praise the Lord for redeeming this good woman!

Mat Staver

Founder and Chairman

Liberty Counsel

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SOURCES:

Liptak, Adam. “Justices Thomas and Alito Question Same-Sex Marriage Precedent.” The New York Times, October 5, 2020. Nytimes.com/2020/10/05/us/politics/thomas-alito-same-sex-marriage.html.

“Statement of Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis.” Liberty Counsel, September 1, 2015. Lc.org/newsroom/details/statement-of-kentucky-clerk-kim-davis-1.

“What If God Called You to Speak Out? Are You Ready?” Liberty Counsel. Accessed August 17, 2023. Lc.org/kim.