Kim Davis In Jail, Gay Couples In Kentucky Get Same-Sex Marriage Licenses

Weeks after the June Supreme Court legalised gay marriage in the US, same-sex couples in Rowan County, Kentucky, got legal marriage licenses for the first time on Friday.

The problem arose when the Kentucky County Clerk Kim Davis began to refuse issuing licenses to same-sex couples, in spite of court orders. Kim Davis is now imprisoned, while same-sex couples are crowding her office to take their licenses, according to The New York Times.

"Here's two things I know: She's not going to resign and she's not going to violate her conscience...So however long that lasts, in terms of the consequences, she is prepared to accept them," lawyer Mathew Staver said.

Davis is a registered Democrat, but her religious beliefs do not permit her to support same-sex marriages, she feels.

On Friday, the licenses were finally issued by five employees in her office. The first to get the licenses were James Yates and William Smith, whose earlier attempts had failed.

"Our position and the position of the clerk of Rowan County is that those licenses are void," Staver said, The Washington Post  reported.

Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee will visit Davis in jail, according to CNN. Davis is being held in contempt of court.

"Having Kim Davis in federal custody removes all doubt of the criminalization of Christianity in our country. We must defend religious liberty and never surrender to judicial tyranny," Huckabee said.

On Thursday, Huckabee said he was "proud" of Davis.

"Who will be next? Pastors? Photographers? Caterers? Florists? This is a reckless, appalling, out-of-control decision that undermines the Constitution of the United States and our fundamental right to religious liberty," he added.