Nonprofit organization criticizes county clerk Kim Davis’ anti-gay beliefs with billboard.
After spending six days in jail for disobeying court orders, Kim Davis was released on September 8. But upon her arrival at her hometown in Morehead, Kentucky, Davis was greeted by a huge and a rather unwelcoming surprise.
The non-profit organization Planting Peace that also supports the LGBT community put up a billboard that criticizes Davis’ anti-gay belief and her personal interpretation of the Bible. The Billboard reads: “Dear Kim Davis, The fact that you can’t sell your daughter for three goats and a cow means we’ve already Redefined Marriage.”
The message simply wants to tell Davis that she can’t use the Bible in defending her anti-gay acts because the concept of marriage has been associated with different meanings or ideas in the Bible. And some of these Biblical interpretations can be considered as immoral or unacceptable today.
According to Planting Peace president Aaron Jackson “The intent of this billboard is to expose how the anti-LGBT movement is selective in what rules to follow and how they choose to define ‘traditional’ institutions of values.”
Jackson continues by citing the current plight of LGBT individuals across the world “There are LGBT youth across the world who are taking their lives at an alarming rate because of these messages from society that make them feel broken or less than. We have to meet hate with love, intolerance with compassion. Our message to our LGBT youth is simple: You are loved, valued, supported, and beautiful. There is nothing wrong with you, and we will stand by you. You are not alone.”
Kim Davis is finally back at work
For deliberately defying court orders including those from the Kentucky government, the US Supreme Court found Davis guilty of contempt and was sent to jail on September 3. After six days, she was eventually released and allowed to go back to work.
But the Rowan County clerk remained defiant of the legal orders commanding her to issue marriage licenses particularly to gay couples. And to prevent another legal problem and jail term, she announced that he will still not issue marriage licenses to gay couples but won’t stop the deputy clerks from doing so.
In a statement she made on Monday she stressed that “If any of them feels that they must issue an unauthorized license to avoid being thrown in jail, I understand their tough choice and I will take no action against them. However, any unauthorized license they issue will not have my name, my title or my authority on it. Instead, the license will state that they are issued pursuant to a federal court order.”
#KimDavis was greeted by a huge and a rather unwelcoming surprise billboard in her hometown[/tweetthis]
As a result, Rowan County Deputy Clerk Brian Mason was the one issuing marriage licenses to gay couples. The licenses issued have a different wording and includes the phrase “issued pursuant to a federal court order” instead of the original authority of the county clerk. Mason estimates that 10 couples have already received said new licenses.
Upon Davis’ return to her work, she was greeted by groups rallying in support and also by those who criticize her anti-gay acts. Those in support had messages like “God Bless Kim Davis”. On the other hand, protesters against her like Mary Hargis cited that “When she willfully decided that she was going to disobey the law, she became a criminal. For whatever reason, all criminals have an excuse for their actions.”
On Davis’ return to her office, same-sex couple Shannon and Carmen Wampler-Collins is also at the county office applying for a license. They eventually received the newly worded license that the Deputy Clerk issued. In an interview, Carmen said that “It’s a temporary patch. It will work for now, but I would Iike to see her resign if she is not going to do the job.”
At the moment, Davis has already made an appeal to the Kentucky government and legislators to rewrite state marriage laws in a way that will accommodate her and other workers who have similar religious objections or views.