Following the news that former Kentucky municipal clerk Kim Davis has petitioned the Supreme Court to reverse Obergefell v. Hodges—the landmark decision that legalized same-sex marriage nationally—educator and activist Chasten Buttigieg, who is married to former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, called out her hypocrisy given her own marriage history.
Davis, who spent six days in jail in 2015 for refusing to issue marriage licenses to a gay couple on religious grounds, is appealing a jury’s award of $100,000 in emotional damages and $260,000 in attorneys’ fees.
In a petition for writ of certiorari filed last month, she contends that the First Amendment’s free exercise protections shield her from personal liability for denying the licenses. She also argues that the Supreme Court’s landmark Obergefell v. Hodges ruling—which recognized same-sex marriage rights under the 14th Amendment’s due process clause—was “egregiously wrong.”
And in came Buttigieg to point out the hypocrisy of Davis' position on the "sanctity" of marriage.
He said:
"Meet Kim Davis, the woman who would like to speak to the manager, I mean Supreme Court, about marriage."
The section of Davis' Wikipedia page that he highlighted reads:
"Davis has been married four times to three husbands. The first three marriages ended in divorce in 1994, 2006, and 2008. Davis has two daughters from her first marriage and twins, a son and another daughter, who were born five months after her divorce from her first husband."
"Her third husband is the biological father of the twins, the children being conceived while Davis was still married to her first husband. The twins were adopted by Davis's current husband, Joe Davis, who was also her second husband; the couple initially divorced in 2006 but later remarried.
You can see his post below.
@chastenbuttigieg/Threads
@chasten.buttigieg/Threads
Others have also called out Davis' hypocrisy.
The petition appears to be the first formal request since 2015 for the Supreme Court to overturn its landmark same-sex marriage ruling, with Davis regarded as one of the few Americans who may have legal standing to challenge the precedent.
Lower courts have rejected her arguments, and most legal experts view her effort as a long shot. Earlier this year, a federal appeals court panel ruled that Davis “cannot raise the First Amendment as a defense because she is being held liable for state action, which the First Amendment does not protect.”
In 2015, as Rowan County Clerk, Davis was the sole official authorized under state law to issue marriage licenses on behalf of the government.
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