Kim Davis Biography
Kim Davis {Full name – Kimberly Jean Davis (née Bailey)} is a former county clerk for Rowan County, Kentucky. She was born on September 17, 1965, in Jackson, Kentucky, U.S. Davis gained international media attention in 2015 when as a county clerk for Rowan County, Kentucky, she denied marriage licenses to all couples to avoid issuing them to same-sex couples after a supreme court ruling.
Kim Davis Husband
Thus far, Kim Davis has been married four times to three husbands. Her 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. They were adopted by her current husband, Joe Davis, who was also her second husband; he supports her stance against same-sex marriage.
Davis’ son Nathan worked in her office as a deputy clerk and has taken the same position of denying marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Davis said she and her husband switched from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party, shortly after the same-sex marriage license controversy.
Kim Davis Age
Davis was born on September 17, 1965, in Jackson, Kentucky. She was serving as chief deputy clerk of Rowan County, Kentucky, by 1991, reporting to her mother, Rowan County Clerk Jean W. Bailey. Davis is 54 years old in 2019.
Kim Davis 2015 | Gay Marriages
In August 2015, Davis gained international attention when she defied a U.S. federal court order to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. She contested in the November 6, 2018 election but was defeated by Democratic challenger Elwood Caudill Jr. Davis vacated the office on January 7, 2019.
Davis was elected Rowan County Clerk in 2014. A few months after she assumed office, the Supreme Court decided Obergefell v. Hodges, and all county clerks in Kentucky were ordered to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Kim Davis began denying marriage licenses to all couples to avoid issuing them to same-sex couples citing personal religious objections to same-sex marriage.
Consequently, a lawsuit ensued, Miller v. Davis, was filed, and Davis was ordered by the U.S. District Court to start issuing marriage licenses. She appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, but the application to appeal was denied. Davis was ultimately jailed for contempt of court when she continued to defy the court order by refusing to issue marriage licenses “under God’s authority”.
She was released after five days in jail under the condition that she does not interfere with the efforts of her deputy clerks, who had begun issuing marriage licenses to all couples in her absence. Kim Davis then went on to modify the Kentucky marriage licenses used in her office so that they no longer mentioned her name.
Kim Davis GoFundMe
GoFundMe, the crowdsourcing service, nixed a fundraising campaign for Sweet Cakes by Melissa owners Aaron and Melissa Klein early 2015. This was before Kim Davis’ action of law violation came to the fore. They were fined $135,000 for refusing to go through with a wedding cake request for a gay couple. In a statement, GoFundMe explained:
“After careful review by our team, we have found the ‘Support Sweet Cakes By Melissa’ campaign to be in violation of our Terms and Conditions. The money raised thus far will still be made available for withdrawal. The subjects of the ‘Support Sweet Cakes By Melissa’ campaign have been formally charged by local authorities and found to be in violation of Oregon state law concerning discriminatory acts. Accordingly, the campaign has been disabled.”
Later on, its policy was changed to explicitly say that “GoFundMe will not allow campaigns that benefit individuals or groups facing formal charges or claims of serious violations of the law.” In order words, Kim Davis could not raise funds via the platform as she had been found to have disregarded the law.
Kim Davis Salary
In 2011, Davis’ salary was $51,812 in wages with an additional $11,301 in overtime and other compensation. She earned more than other chief deputies in the county prompting some county employees and residents to complain to the county’s governing body, the Fiscal Court.
The employees stated that the clerk’s staff’s wages were too high with total compensation for five employees being about $198,000. The Fiscal Court then voted to cut the 2012 budget for wages from $300,000 to $200,000.