Former Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis – Photo: Liberty Counsel, via Facebook
On Monday, November 10, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected former Kentucky county clerk and same-sex marriage opponent Kim Davis’ appeal of a lower court’s decision against her — including a petition demanding that the court revisit and overturn its landmark ruling legalizing same-sex marriage.
The nation’s highest court denied a writ of certiorari, which would have signaled its intention to review Davis’ case — and the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision, which struck down state-level bans on same-sex marriage. It would have taken four justices to agree to hear Davis’ challenge.
However, unlike in other cases involving LGBTQ rights, no justices explicitly dissented from the court’s decision to deny Davis’ request, according to The Hill.
Davis, the former county clerk of Rowan County, in eastern Kentucky, made headlines shortly after the Obergefell decision was handed down, by refusing to issue marriage licenses to any couple, regardless of sexual orientation, in order to avoid issuing licenses to same-sex couples.
She also barred her deputies and other office employees from issuing marriage licenses, objecting to the fact that her name and title were listed on them.
Several couples denied licenses challenged Davis’ refusal, with a federal judge ordering her to issue the licenses or face contempt of court. She was jailed for five days for refusing, but eventually allowed her deputies to issue marriage licenses.
Kentucky lawmakers later changed the law to remove clerk’s names and titles from marriage certificates in order to cater to Davis and other clerks with religious objections to same-sex marriages and their desire not to be seen as condoning such unions.Â
One of the couples who had been denied a license by Davis — David Ermold and David Moore — sued, accusing her of violating their constitutional rights. A jury awarded the couple $100,000, with a judge later ordering Davis to pay an additional $260,000 to the couple to cover the cost of attorneys’ fees.Â
Davis and her attorneys at Liberty Counsel — a right-wing, anti-LGBTQ legal group — appealed the ruling, claiming she was denied a religious accommodation despite her belief that issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples violated her faith. They argued she shouldn’t be held personally liable for damages, but the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the judgment in favor of Ermold and Moore.
Davis and her attorneys then appealed the damages and attorneys’ fees, while also urging the Supreme Court to reconsider Obergefell v. Hodges. They claimed the couple’s lawsuit would never have existed if the court hadn’t struck down Kentucky’s same-sex marriage ban, and argued that the justices had been wrong to legalize same-sex marriage in the first place.
FBI Director Kash Patel has allegedly fired a former FBI employee and new agent trainee for displaying a gay Pride flag on his desk at a California field office last year, according to three people familiar with the matter.
The trainee, who worked as an FBI support specialist in Los Angeles, received a termination letter dated October 1 -- the first day of the government shutdown -- and signed by Patel, claiming he had displayed an improper “political” message in the workplace, according to CNN.
At the time, he was completing new agent training at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia.
Capital Pride Alliance Board President Ashley Smith has stepped down, effective October 18.
Smith was elected board president in 2018, succeeding longtime leader Bernie Delia, who passed away in 2024.
In a brief emailed statement to Metro Weekly, Capital Pride Alliance confirmed Smith’s resignation, saying the organization was recently "made aware of a claim" regarding Smith but offered no details about the nature of the claim or the circumstances surrounding his departure.
Three Florida jurisdictions have rejected proposals to rename streets after conservative activist Charlie Kirk, the co-founder of Turning Point USA, whom Republicans have lionized as a martyr since his fatal shooting at Utah Valley University on September 10.
Since Kirk's death, conservatives have blamed left-wing rhetoric for fueling the kind of political violence that claimed his life, and his funeral became a galvanizing moment for conservatives, many of whom vowed to rededicate themselves to right-wing causes.
President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance have cited Kirk's death as justification for targeting those they claim oppose free speech -- a move critics call a pretext for cracking down on left-wing groups and their allies.
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