Kim Davis Is Still Obsessed With Same-Sex Marriage but It's Gotten Even Worse

Like a bad penny, Kim Davis has once again turned up. For those unfamiliar with her tale, cast your minds back to June 2015 when same-sex marriage was legalized in the United States thanks to Obergefell v. Hodges.

As much as we'd like to believe the entire country erupted in celebration, alas, that was not the case. Several counties in various states refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Davis was the county clerk for Rowan County in Kentucky, which is an elected position. According to the BBC, Davis refused to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples, citing her religious beliefs and the ability to exercise them under the First Amendment.

"You can't be separated from something that's in your heart in your soul," she said. She was eventually involved in several lawsuits, which landed her six days in jail for contempt. Where is she now? Here's what we know.

The problem Davis had with the marriage licenses was the fact that, as county clerk, they had her name on them. Once that was removed, she continued working in the office, but did not personally issue any marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

A few weeks after she was released from jail in September 2015, Davis and her husband met with Pope Francis at the Apostolic Nunciature to the United States in Washington, D.C.

In November 2017, Davis announced she was running for re-election as a Republican, per NBC News. In 2014, she won as a Democrat.

One year later, Davis lost to Democratic challenger Elwood Caudill Jr. by about 700 votes. In the years between her controversy and 2018 loss, Davis wrote a book titled Under God’s Authority: The Kim Davis Story. In it, she chronicles her "dramatic encounters with furious, fist-pounding homosexual men and the hate mail that flooded her office," reports the Herald Leader.

A decade after Davis first appeared in the news, she returned in order to beat the same old drum. The former Rowan County Clerk formerly asked the Supreme Court to overturn its ruling on same-sex marriage, said ABC News.

In her writ of certiorari, Davis's lawyer argued that the First Amendment protection of religious freedom protects her from personal liability for denying marriage licenses.

Davis was previously ordered to pay $100,000 for emotional damages and $260,000 for attorney fees.

Davis's petition is the first attempt to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges since it passed in 2015. She is one of the only Americans with the legal standing needed to challenge the precedent.

Mathew Staver, Davis's lawyer, said, "If there ever was a case of exceptional importance, the first individual in the Republic's history who was jailed for following her religious convictions regarding the historic definition of marriage, this should be it."

In September 2025, the Supreme Court will formally discuss Davis's petition in a private conference during which they will decide whether or not to add it to the docket. If they do, oral argument will likely begin in the spring of 2026.