Kim Davis, the Kentucky county clerk who was jailed for refusing to give marriage licenses to same-sex couples, gave her first sit-down interview to FOX News' Megyn Kelly Thursday night. Davis, whose defiance of the Supreme Court ruling legalizing marriage equality has made her an icon of religious freedom for several GOP presidential candidates, again insisted that her actions have nothing to do with homophobia.
"It's never been a gay or lesbian issue for me," she told Kelly. Davis also framed her predicament as an unjust violation of her religious rights. Since the outset, Davis has insisted that her religion forbids her from issuing a marriage certificate to two men or two women.
"You have millions of Christians who object this whole same-sex marriage issue. Are their rights invalid? Are their rights not worth anything?" she asked.
As county clerk, Davis is responsible for granting marriage licenses to couples who seek them, regardless of their genders or sexual orientations. That responsibility is fortified by the Supreme Court's June 26 decision to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide, and by Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear's order that Davis comply.
Davis was released from jail several days after she arrived, under the agreement that she would cease to place her religious beliefs in the way of others' right to marry.
Davis has been married several times, divorced, and has had children out of wedlock. She has said that allegations of hypocrisy upset her.
"I've not judged anybody. I have given my life to Christ. I have been redeemed by the blood of Christ, and that's available to anyone that wants that," Davis told Kelly.
Davis no longer has to put her name on the marriage licenses she is charged with issuing — deputy clerks can sign them instead. Nevertheless, recent news reports allege that just as soon as her reinstatement allowed, Davis began tampering with paperwork so as to deny any responsibility for or association with the licenses.
When ABC news asked Davis if she would be willing to go back to jail for her obstinance, Davis said she would.
"I feel really sad that someone can be so unhappy with themselves as a person that they did not feel dignified as a human being until they got a piece of paper," she told ABC. "There is just so much more to life than that.”