An East Texas county clerk opposed to
marriage equality is expected to resign on Monday.
Rusk County commissioners are scheduled
to vote Monday on County Clerk Joyce Lewis-Kugle's resignation, which
she submitted Thursday.
According to the AP, County Judge Joel
Hale, the county's top administrator, said that Lewis-Kugle wrote in
her resignation letter that her religious faith prevented her from
issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
Lewis-Kugle's office was among those
that did not issue licenses to gay and lesbian couples following the
Supreme Court's June 26 ruling striking down bans on gay marriage in
all 50 states.
District Attorney Michael Jimerson told
the Tyler
Morning Telegraph that Lewis-Kugle had sought his opinion on
the matter.
“The Supreme Court is the law of the
land. You can either resign in protest or issue the licenses,”
Jimerson said he told her.
Commissioners are expected to accept
Lewis-Kugle's resignation.