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Op-ed: We're Still Fighting to Marry in Kentucky
Op-ed: We're Still Fighting to Marry in KentuckyCommentary
These men have made sacrifices to live in Kentucky, but they refuse to let their state tell them they can't wed.
BY David Moore and David Ermold
August 18 2015 5:00 AM ET
David and I have called Rowan County, Ky., our home for 11 of the 17 years that we have been in a relationship. We bought our home in 2005, and we both finished our degrees at Morehead State University. We have faced our share of struggles and setbacks, but nothing quite like our current fight to obtain a marriage license that is still being denied by the Rowan County clerk. After the Supreme Court ruling June 26, Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis stopped issuing marriage licenses to all couples due to her belief that a marriage is only a union between one man and one woman. When she told us this, we felt degraded and humiliated, and we were shocked that an elected official that we had voted for was using her position of power to deny us our constitutional rights.
....
The last time we were at the clerk’s office, we were told to contact Liberty Counsel in regard to the issuance of marriage licenses. How is it that our deputy clerks are legally allowed to refer people to a [link: http://www.lc.org/index.cfm?pid=14096|“Christian ministry funded by tax-deductible donations”] in order to obtain their civil rights? Rowan County is our home, and outside interest groups should not be allowed to co-opt our local government and disrupt our citizens’ lives.
These men have made sacrifices to live in Kentucky, but they refuse to let their state tell them they can't wed.
BY David Moore and David Ermold
August 18 2015 5:00 AM ET
David and I have called Rowan County, Ky., our home for 11 of the 17 years that we have been in a relationship. We bought our home in 2005, and we both finished our degrees at Morehead State University. We have faced our share of struggles and setbacks, but nothing quite like our current fight to obtain a marriage license that is still being denied by the Rowan County clerk. After the Supreme Court ruling June 26, Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis stopped issuing marriage licenses to all couples due to her belief that a marriage is only a union between one man and one woman. When she told us this, we felt degraded and humiliated, and we were shocked that an elected official that we had voted for was using her position of power to deny us our constitutional rights.
....
The last time we were at the clerk’s office, we were told to contact Liberty Counsel in regard to the issuance of marriage licenses. How is it that our deputy clerks are legally allowed to refer people to a [link: http://www.lc.org/index.cfm?pid=14096|“Christian ministry funded by tax-deductible donations”] in order to obtain their civil rights? Rowan County is our home, and outside interest groups should not be allowed to co-opt our local government and disrupt our citizens’ lives.