A Kentucky County Clerk Is Refusing to Issue Gay Marriage Licenses Despite a Court Ruling

Read: Kentucky Governor to County Clerk: Start Issuing Marriage Licenses or Resign

Kim Davis is a woman on a mission from God. Since the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage throughout the country in June, the county clerk of Rowan, County, Kentucky, has notoriously refused to issue marriage licenses to LGBT couples, even though the elected official is required by law to do so. She claims she's doing so "under God's authority," but her crusade, which has made national headlines, may have run out of gas.

The courts have ordered Davis to give same-sex couples licenses, and on Monday the Supreme Court declined her appeal. On Tuesday, the ACLU filed two motions in court to have her held in contempt for her continued intransigence.

"Davis will be required to answer to the judge for her violation of the order and could face steep fines," said the civil-rights organization in a statement. (The ACLU isn't requesting that Davis face any time in jail.)

The contempt hearing is scheduled for Thursday; as of Tuesday morning she was still refusing to give out licenses surrounded by vocal supporters and detractors.

"It is unfortunate that we've been compelled to take further action today to ensure that the people of Rowan County can obtain the marriage licenses they're entitled to receive from their County Clerk's office," said the ACLU's legal director, Steven R. Shapiro, in a statement. "The law is clear and the courts have spoken. The duty of public officials is to enforce the law, not place themselves above it."

(You can read the motions filed against Davis here, here, and here, if you so desire.)