WEST VIRGINIA: Lesbian Couple Says Gilmer County Deputy Clerk Screamed “Abomination” At Them

West Virginia’s Gilmer County Clerk Jean Butcher [inset above] says she agrees with her deputy clerk, whom a lesbian couple claims railed at them about God and called them an “abomination” when they applied for a marriage license. The Charleston Gazette reports:

Samantha Brookover stood crying in the Gilmer County courthouse last week, humiliated on what was meant to be a celebratory occasion. Brookover and her partner, Amanda Abramovich, wanted a marriage license. They got one — along with an earful from a deputy clerk in the office, who told them that their relationship was wrong and that God would judge them.

Brookover and Abramovich had expected maybe an eye roll, or some sign of disgust. They said they weren’t anticipating they would be told they were “an abomination.” “It just takes one person to remind you how closed-minded our world is,” Brookover said. Debbie Allen, the deputy clerk who processed their marriage license, and another deputy clerk who was there, Angela Moore, disputed some of the allegations from the couple and Brookover’s mother, Jill Goff, who was also there. They disagree on how loud Allen was, and whether the word “abomination” was used, although Moore said she couldn’t hear everything.

The clerks don’t dispute that Allen told the couple was they were doing was wrong, and that they would be judged. But they also stressed that they did not view the statement as an “attack.” “We did not attack them,” Allen said. “We did not yell at them. We were not aggressive with them. I felt I talked nicely to them.” Brookover and Abramovich say that Allen huffed, took their driver’s licenses, made copies, slammed down the copies, then for two to three minutes, yelled that what they were doing was wrong, in her eyes and in God’s eyes, and that no one in Gilmer County would ever marry them.

Allen says that she believes God was “standing with her” during the incident. The couple’s mother called Allen’s boss, Jean Butcher, who was not present during the confrontation, but Butcher shrugged off the mother’s complaint, saying that she feels the same way as her deputy clerk. (Tipped by JMG reader Michael)

RELATED: The West Virginia legislature is considering a bill that would allow Christians to defy virtually ANY law in the name of religious freedom.

ALSO RELATED: I pulled the below graphic from Butcher’s Facebook page.