Anti-LGBT Kentucky clerk insists he is 'being violated' by governor’s order to follow law he swore to uphold

An anti-LGBT county clerk in Kentucky argues that he should have a First Amendment right to violate at least one of the laws he was sworn to uphold.

Casey Davis, the Casey County clerk, said Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear was violating his rights by ordering him to perform his taxpayer-funded elected duties, reported Right Wing Watch.

The county clerk argues that “nature’s law” should take precedence over “any law that man puts on a piece of paper” – apparently referring to the state Constitution he was sworn to uphold.

“It’s not just me being violated but it’s both side of the coin, both sides of this issue that’s at stake here -- and that is our First Amendment rights,” Davis said. “We have religious freedom in this country and if we lose that we’ve lost everything.”

He appeared Monday on the “Washington Watch” radio program hosted by Tony Perkins, president of the anti-LGBT Family Research Council, to argue that he should have the religious freedom to choose which laws he wished to follow.

At least one other county clerk in the state's 120 counties refuses to issue marriage licenses at all to avoid compliance with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges.

The county clerk claims he is willing to go to jail to avoid issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, but he has resisted the governor’s call to resign and instead wants lawmakers to set up a taxpayer-funded website where couples can purchase marriage licenses instead of obtaining one from his office.

“The issue, I think, in large part, is not that they can’t get it somewhere else – it’s just that they want to get it from me, and there’s where I believe I’m being violated,” Davis argued.