First Marriage License Issued to Same-Sex Couple After Kim Davis' Return

Kim Davis may (still) not be doing her job, but that doesn't mean that her deputy clerks are sitting idle.

From Buzzfeed:

"Davis returned to work Monday morning after being held in jail for refusing to issue marriage licenses. The religious county clerk said that she won’t interfere with the issuing of licenses but any marriage license issued will not bear her name.

'Until an accommodation is provided by those with the authority to provide it, any marriage license issued by my office will not be issued or authorized by me,' Davis told reporters.

The license was issued to Shannon Wampler-Collinswith and Carmen Wampler-Collins, a couple from Lexington, Kentucky, who have been together for 23 years.

Davis said that she loved her deputy clerks and would understand if they issued 'unauthorized licenses to avoid being thrown into jail.'

Davis’s deputy clerk, Brian Mason, told BuzzFeed News, 'we love her too,' but said he would continue to issue marriage licenses today...

Davis also said she had “great doubts” about the validity of the licenses issued under these conditions. Her lawyers have said that licenses issued without her authorization were invalid, but plaintiffs in the case against Davis said their licenses were valid."

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While Kim Davis sits behind closed shades in her office and a crowd of pro-Davis supporters rallies out front, life at the Rowan County Clerk's Office seems to have become a Twilight Zone-like scene where what should be a happy occasion is turned into a political act and deputies do the work of highly paid public officials.

 As time and the legal system drag on, the validity of the marriage licenses could be called into question. After all, the licenses state that they have been "issued … pursuant to federal court order" rather than under the authority of the county clerk. Even Brian Mason, the deputy clerk that publicly stated that he would continue to issue licenses, is listed as a notary public, not his official title. 

But, for now, marriage-minded couples, same-sex and different-sex alike, are able to walk into the Rowan County Clerks office knowing that they will be leaving with a license in hand.