One woman’s bigotry is coming back to bite her as she has been ordered to pay $100,000 to a same-sex couple she denied a marriage license in 2015. Kim Davis was a county clerk in Rowan County, Kentucky when she infamously defied the historic 2015 Supreme Court ruling that deemed same-sex marriage legal in the United States. After the ruling was made, Davis decided that she would refuse to issue marriage licenses for everyone in Rowan County. She claimed that same-sex marriage went against her personal and religious beliefs, so she would rather not issue any marriage licenses whatsoever than allow a same-sex couple to be issued one.
Within days, two same-sex couples and two different-sex couples filed a lawsuit against Davis for denying them marriage licenses, which became known as Miller v. Davis. Of course, the judge upheld the Supreme Court’s ruling and ordered Davis to begin issuing the marriage licenses immediately. However, she still refused, resulting in her being found in contempt of court and jailed for several days before her release. The case concluded only when Davis’ staff issued the marriage licenses as the court ordered. Meanwhile, Davis modified the marriage certificates so that her name did not appear.
Davis’ actions gained widespread attention. While most were disgusted that she had defied Supreme Court orders and forced multiple couples to seek legal action in order to simply get married, she unsurprisingly became an icon in conservative communities that lauded her bigotry. Even the Vatican got involved in the case, with Davis meeting with Pope Francis, during which she claimed he told her to “stay strong.” Now, though, one couple is getting justice for the unnecessary pain that Davis inflicted on them.
Kim Davis ordered to pay $100,000 in damages
Both of the same-sex couples denied marriage licenses by Davis sued her for violating their constitutional rights. This week, the jury reached a final verdict in both cases. In the case of Ermold v. Davis, Davis was ordered to pay $50,000 to each plaintiff, David Ermold and David Moore. As Ermold and Moore’s co-counsel stated, the couple is “completely vindicated” by the jury’s verdict. However, although she was also found liable in the case of James Yates and William Smith, no damages were awarded by the jury.
Davis and her legal team are already planning to appeal the decision. Still, it seems unlikely the Supreme Court (Davis’ ultimate goal for this case) will hear the appeal after the number of times this woman has been proven wrong and was ordered to issue the marriage licenses. She was a government official who refused to do her job and showed clear discrimination towards the LGBTQ community. Davis never had a case and was never fighting for her rights or against religious persecution; she was just a homophobic woman who intentionally violated the constitutional rights of others and forced two couples into a senseless eight-year-long legal battle because of her egregious actions.
$100,000 almost doesn’t seem like enough in damages for what Davis did, but at least she is finally being held accountable and setting a clear example that discrimination doesn’t belong in government offices. It is also a small victory for the LGBTQ+ community in Kentucky, which has routinely been targeted by discriminatory legislation in the predominantly Republic state. Most recently, Senate Bill 150 was passed in the state, which banned gender-affirming care, encouraged teachers not to use children’s preferred pronouns, and restricted education on sexuality in the classroom.
The LGBTQ+ community still faces an uphill battle against the state’s discriminatory legislation and political leaders. However, the verdict in Davis’ case is a victory that shows that discriminatory and homophobic individuals can be held accountable for their actions, even in Kentucky.
(featured image: Ty Wright / Getty)
