KENTUCKY: Thousands Rally In Support Of Renegade County Clerk Kim Davis And Other Clerks [VIDEO]

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports:

At a rally Saturday behind the Kentucky Capitol, several thousand people sang hymns, prayed, and praised three county clerks who refuse to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. They also heard Republican political candidates, including gubernatorial hopeful Matt Bevin, and legislators criticize Democrats, especially Gov. Steve Beshear and Attorney General Jack Conway, the Democrats’ nominee for governor this fall. Kent Ostrander, executive director of The Family Foundation, said the event was not anti-gay or anti-lesbian. “All living humanity needs God,” he said. The purpose of the rally, said Ostrander, was to support religious liberty and freedom of conscience for Kentucky’s county clerks in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court decision. He said it was likely the nation’s first statewide gathering focusing on such First Amendment rights. Ostrander reminded the crowd that the Kentucky legislature in 2013 passed a law to prohibit government from infringing on any citizen’s religious liberty unless it has a compelling interest. He said the religious liberty of three county clerks — Kim Davis of Rowan County, Kay Schwartz of Whitley County and Casey Davis of Casey County — is under attack because of their religious conviction that they cannot use their names on a license form to authorize a same-sex marriage. Ostrander noted that Beshear has told the clerks to do their jobs or quit. “Governor, please do your job or quit,” Ostrander said to loud applause.