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Does Kim Davis Think She's A Heroine Or A Villain?

by April Siese

Rowan County Kentucky Court Clerk Kim Davis has made national headlines for her stance on marriage equality and commitment to refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples. Davis claims that the move is a religious decision, honoring God and acknowledging the original and only definition of marriage — a union between a man and a woman. To many, she's a discriminatory presence that should be impeached immediately. However, to others, Davis has been seen as a religious pioneer fighting an issue that is far deeper than simply allowing same-sex marriages to occur in this nation. Does Kim Davis think she's a heroine or a villain?

The clerk made her first major primetime network appearance on Fox News' The Kelly File on Wednesday night; she had previously been interviewed on ABC's Good Morning America on Tuesday morning. When Megyn Kelly asked Davis directly whether she saw herself as a heroine or a villain, the county clerk responded that it "just depends on if you love God or not, which side I'm on." Davis continued:

If you think that I'm a villain or think that I'm just someone God is using. ... It's never been a gay or lesbian issue for me. It has been about upholding the word of God and how God defined marriage from the very beginning of time.

If I resign I lose my voice. Why should I have to quit a job that I love that I'm good at? ... They can accommodate for all sorts of other issues, and we ask for one simple accommodation and we cannot receive it. It just doesn't seem right.

Davis was jailed for five days after being found in contempt of court for refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples following the Supreme Court's ruling on marriage equality in June. She was released with the stipulation that she remain free so long as she does not interfere with the issuing of subsequent marriage licenses. According to Slate, upon release Davis began not only interfering, but doctoring same-sex marriage licenses that were issued in her absence. The ways in which she altered the licenses may have completely invalidated them.

It's unclear whether Davis will return to jail for her behavior or simply be fined, the latter of which was requested by the gay couples affected by the county clerk's interventions. Prior to being sent to jail, Davis had been serving Rowan County as a clerk since the beginning of the year after being elected to take her mother's position in 2014. She works with her son as well, though it's unclear whether or not he supports his mother's decision to not issues marriage licenses to same sex couples. Davis may very well return to jail for her most recent actions in her crusade against gay marriage. No matter what happens, she's indicated that she's willing to bear the consequences in the name of her strong religious beliefs.

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