MOREHEAD, ky. — Kim Davis returned to work Monday for the first time since she was jailed for denying marriage licenses to same-sex couples and said she had been faced with a “seemingly impossible choice” between following her conscience and losing her freedom.
With her voice shaking, the Kentucky county clerk said she would not interfere with deputy clerks who hand out the licenses, but Davis declared that the documents would not be authorized by her and she questioned their validity.
Davis, an Apostolic Christian who spent five days in jail for disobeying a federal judge, read from a handwritten statement outside the Rowan County courthouse, saying she was torn between obeying God and the judge’s directive, which she said “forces me to disobey God.”
The first couple to apply for a license Monday were Shannon Wampler and Carmen Collins. Deputy clerk Brian Mason gave them a license despite his boss’ objections. Davis, a Democrat, sat in her office with the door closed and the blinds drawn.
