Seven Indiana counties are dragging their feet in issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. US District Judge Richard Young struck down Indiana’s ban on gay marriage on Wednesday. His ruling, effective immediately, found that the ban violated same-sex couples’ equal protection rights under the 14th Amendment.
The clerk in Daviess County, a rural Southern Indiana county of around thirty-two thousand 60 miles from the Kentucky border, has refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. County Clerk Sherri Healy cited her religious beliefs and uncertainty over whether the state would appeal as grounds for denying a license to one marriage-seeker.
The United States “was founded on the biblical principle of one man and one woman in marriage,” she said.
WANE reports that the counties refusing to issue marriage licenses as of Friday morning include Adams, Clay, Daviess, Decatur, Franklin, Grant, and Warren. Attorney General Greg Zoeller has instructed counties to comply with the ruling, even as the state appeals the decision.
Non-compliance with Judge Young’s ruling could have legal consequences. Clerks who do not comply may be held in contempt of the US District Court.
