Gay Couple Refused Marriage License in Hometown

[InsideOutright 1,118]

A Kentucky same-s-x couple wanted nothing more than to get a marriage license in their home county, but they say the clerk refused to grant it based on her personal views – and their emotionally charged exchange with an office employee was caught on video.

One of the men, David Ermold, 41, an assistant professor at a local university, said he and his partner, David Moore, went to the Rowan County Clerk's office prepared on Monday, knowing that some officials were refusing to honor the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling that same-s-x marriage is constitutionally protected.

"We don’t want this to happen to anyone else," one of the men, David Ermold, told ABC News. "This was not a good feeling."

The incident Monday comes just a few days after the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sued the Rowan (Kentucky) County Clerk, Kim Davis, and Rowan County on behalf of four couples -- two same-gender couples and two opposite-gender couples -- who were also denied marriage licenses by Davis, according to a court complaint.

ACLU lawyer Dan Canon told ABC News he has been in touch with the Morehead, Kentucky, couple because the outcome of the case could affect them, although they are not the organization's clients. The ACLU complaint is a proposed class action.

Ermold and Moore, who say they have been together 17 years and have shared a house in the area for the past decade, realize that they could have gone elsewhere to get married, but they wanted to get their license in Rowan County.

"We could have gone to any other state and done that," Ermold said. "This is where we live. This has been our home. I have two master’s degrees from Morehead State."

When the historic Supreme Court ruling came down, the men planned to get a license in their home county and then have a ceremony in Tennessee or Niagara Falls.

But they didn't go straight away. Instead, they say they wrote letters to the clerk and a judge at the end of June alerting them to their plans, but did not hear back.

"We also knew that it was going to be difficult," Ermold said. "We’ve dealt with discrimination our entire lives. That was a hard day – just walking in."

In the video, which has since gone viral, garnering almost half a million views on YouTube in less than 24 hours, the couple walks up to a desk at the Rowan County Clerk's office asking to talk to Davis directly after being told the clerk would not issue them a license.

"I have the letter from the Governor's Office stating that all the county clerks are to issue marriage licenses," Ermold says in the video. He also mentions the Supreme Court's recent ruling before being interrupted by an unidentified woman at the desk, according to the video.

"We know what it reads sir, and we're not issuing any license," the woman at the desk tells them. Instead, she suggested the couple can go to any other county to get their marriage license, according to the video.

Ermold responds that they don't want to go to any other county because they've lived in Rowan County for over 10 years, pay their taxes there and even registered their cars there.

"We have our rights," he says.

At the end of the footage, the clerk herself comes out, asking the person recording the video, a colleague of Moore's, to put the cellphone away, but a woman's voice can be heard saying that the video was for the couple's rights.

The video then goes black and the video was turned off out of courtesy, Ermold said.

After that, Davis told them they couldn't get a license, according to Ermold.

"She reiterated her religious views," Ermold told ABC News. "She spoke to us about Adam and Eve and about Eve was from the rib of Adam. I was starting to get a little upset and I ended up walking out."

"She was very specific in stating that she was denying our license based on her personal views," he added. "She was worried about her own soul."

Davis has said that her Christian beliefs prevented her from complying with the Supreme Court decision, so she decided to issue no more marriage licenses to any couple, gay or straight, the Associated Press reported.

She is among a handful of judges and clerks across the South who have defied the high court's order, maintaining that the right to "religious freedom" protects them from having to comply, the AP added.

Davis did not immediately respond to ABC News' requests for comment on the video and lawsuit.

Ermold said that his family is from Pennsylvania, but he moved to Morehead to be with Moore.

"It means a lot" to get married," he said. "We both have jobs. We want to move forward with our healthcare."

"We just want to simplify our lives," he added. "This just seems to be unnecessarily in the way."

Ermold said he plans to pursue legal action to help pressure the clerk's office into action, but they are not interested in money.

"We don’t want other people to go through this," he said.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/video-shows-s-x-ky-couple-told-clerk-refuses/story?id=32313135

 

[DeleteMyAccount 11,881]

How are they getting away with denying their marriage license?  Is Kentucky one of the states that is trying to delay the Supreme Court ruling?

[SlayedForTheGod 665]

How are they getting away with denying their marriage license?  Is Kentucky one of the states that is trying to delay the Supreme Court ruling?

i think she can personally state that she doesnt want to accept it. which means someone else there can do it for them but if shes the only one then theyre unfortunately out of luck. but she can get fired afterwards if any anyone higher than her gets involved. or they get enough flac for this.

[Morphine Prince 109,654]

These PUBLIC SERVANTS are required to abide by the law. The law grants them a marriage license, they must obey. 

Personal beliefs have no place when handling government business. 

[DeleteMyAccount 11,881]

i think she can personally state that she doesnt want to accept it. which means someone else there can do it for them but if shes the only one then theyre unfortunately out of luck. but she can get fired afterwards if any anyone higher than her gets involved. or they get enough flac for this.

But isn't she working in a government building thus making it her job to follow the law?  It's just ironic.  I hope she gets fired..

[RAMROD 117,019]

She need to be fired.

No religious views should takes part in denying people's right at citizen and as human being.

[SlayedForTheGod 665]

But isn't she working in a government building thus making it her job to follow the law?  It's just ironic.  I hope she gets fired..

yeah thats why im saying she could get fired lol. its her job but she can refuse to do her job and face repercussions.

[420 1,042]

Sue their fuqing asses tbh.

If you can't do your job, let others do it ffs.

This is so frustrating.

[SEVDALIZA 1,274]

Just imagining how awful it must feel to be told that you cannot get a marriage license even though the law says you can is making me so upset. How can people be this unfair and vile? They are being denied their human rights. Props to them to remain so calm on such a stressful occasion. I'm sorry that happened to them.

[HANZ 4,380]

but wasn't marriage legal in the USA a few weeks ago?

 

[kennji 546]

she needs to be fired. is she above the law? 

[Easto 143]

What a stupid b---h. I hope her ass is fired, sued, etc etc etc.

[Quasi 11,031]

"The face of ignorance".....how ironic .

[MahoganySnitch 67]

This isn't a church they walked into. It's a government building, who issues the marriage licenses that institutions like the IRS actually care about. You can get married in the eyes of God all you want, the IRS and the like will want your actual marriage license, which this lady denied.  

 

[Sister 9,907]

They now have to be allowed legal marriage. Whatever.