First Gay Couple Leaves Kentucky Courthouse With Marriage License as Defiant Christian Clerk Remains Behind Bars

ASHLAND, Ky. (TheBlaze/AP) -- A gay couple walked out of a Kentucky courthouse with a marriage license Friday morning, a day after the county's defiant clerk was hauled to jail for refusing to license same-sex marriages, citing "God's authority."

William Smith Jr. and James Yates, a couple for nearly a decade, were the first to receive a marriage license in Rowan County, ending a months-long saga over Clerk Kim Davis' refusal to issue same-sex licenses.

Meanwhile, Davis is sitting in jail, ordered there by a federal judge who found her in contempt for refusing to follow his mandate that she issue gay marriage licenses, as her battle for a religious accommodation continues.

Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis listens to a customer following her office's refusal to issue marriage licenses at the Rowan County Courthouse in Morehead, Ky., Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2015. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

Her arrest on Thursday was an act that Mat Staver, Davis' attorney, told TheBlaze will escalate the debate over gay rights and religious conscience "to a new level."

U.S. District Judge David Bunning offered to release Davis on Thursday if she promised not to interfere with her employees issuing licenses, but she refused. She told the judge her mother-in-law pleaded with her to go to church from her deathbed four years ago. She did, converting to Christianity and the belief that gay marriage is a sin.

Davis recounted these conversion details in a statement issued through Staver's Liberty Counsel legal firm on Monday as well, explaining that she owes her life "to Jesus Christ who loves me and gave his life for me."

"Following the death of my godly mother-in-law over four years ago, I went to church to fulfill her dying wish," she said in that statement. "There I heard a message of grace and forgiveness and surrendered my life to Jesus Christ."

After sending Davis to jail, Bunning threatened each of her six employees with the same fate if they followed her lead and refused to comply with his order. Five of the six deputy clerks told Bunning they would issue the licenses. The sixth clerk, Kim Davis' son, was the holdout.

At one point, Bunning looked at Davis' son Nathan and warned him not to interfere with his fellow employees on Friday. The judge said he did not want "any shenanigans," like the staff closing the office for computer upgrades as they did briefly last week.

"That would show a level of disrespect for the court's order," Bunning said. He added: "I'm hoping that cooler heads will prevail."

Davis' son sat stoically as the judge questioned the clerks, some of whom were reluctant.

"I don't really want to, but I will comply with the law," deputy clerk Melissa Thompson said, weeping while she stood before the packed courtroom. "I'm a preacher's daughter and this is the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life."

"I don't hate anybody," she added. "None of us do."

Bunning indicated Kim Davis would remain in jail at least a week, saying he would revisit his decision after the deputy clerks have had time to comply with his order.

Davis said she hopes the Legislature will change Kentucky laws to find some way for her to keep her job while following her conscience. But Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear again refused to call a special session of the legislature on Thursday. State lawmakers will not meet until January.

Davis, an Apostolic Christian, wept during her testimony in federal court Thursday, telling the judge she was "always a good person" but that she gave her heart to the Lord in 2011 and "promised to love Him with all my heart, mind and soul because I wanted to make heaven my home."

Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis, right, talks with David Moore following her office's refusal to issue marriage licenses at the Rowan County Courthouse in Morehead, Ky., Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2015. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

"God's moral law conflicts with my job duties," Davis told the judge before she was taken away by a U.S. marshal. "You can't be separated from something that's in your heart and in your soul."

Davis stood and thanked Bunning after he ordered her to jail, pausing briefly to search the crowded courtroom for familiar faces before she was led away.

Staver, who has repeatedly said that there were other options available to allow Davis to act on her faith, while also permitting gays to marry, told TheBlaze on Thursday that he believes Bunning is treating Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis like “a criminal.”

“Kim Davis might be jailed for her conscience, but her conscience is free,” he said.

Staver, who was not in the courtroom for Davis’ contempt hearing, said that he is surprised by Bunning’s decision, and that his client is a strong woman who has “faith in her Lord.” The lawyer said that he is making plans to meet with Davis to decide next-steps in the case.

“There’s no bail,” Staver said. “He’s just putting her behind bars and treating her as a criminal.”