According to a new poll, a majority of
Americans disagree with Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis in her legal
fight keep her office from issuing marriage licenses to gay and
lesbian couples based on her religious objections to such unions.
Davis became a Christian celebrity
after she served a five-day jail sentence for refusing to comply with
a federal judge's ruling ordering her office to issue marriage
licenses to all qualified couples. While in jail, a deputy clerk
began issuing licenses, altered to remove Davis' name. When she
returned, Davis further altered the licenses to state that they were
being issued under a federal court order.
An
AP-GfK poll conducted online October 15 to October 19 asked 1,027
adults to choose whether “Officials who issue marriage licenses but
have religious objections to same-sex marriage should be required to
issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples” or be “exempt from
issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples”
Fifty-six percent of respondents
answered that officials should be required to issue such licenses,
with 41 percent saying they should be exempt.
A poll conducted in July showed
Americans nearly evenly split, with 49 percent saying such officials
should be exempt and 47 percent saying they should be required.
While a majority of Republicans (58%)
still favor religious exemptions for officials issuing marriage
licenses, support among Republicans has fallen 14 percentage points
since July.