Marriage License Issued; Rally in Paducah

A gay couple walked out of a Kentucky clerk's office with a marriage license, hours after the county's defiant clerk was hauled to jail for refusing to license same-sex marriages.  
 
William Smith Jr. and James Yates, a couple for nearly a decade, were the first to receive a marriage license Friday morning in Rowan County, ending a months-long standoff. 
 
Clerk Kim Davis has cited ``God's authority'' and refused to issue marriage licenses since the Supreme Court effectively legalized gay marriage in June. 
 
Five of Davis' deputy clerks said they would obey U.S. District Judge David Bunning's ruling and issue marriage licenses Friday morning. Bunning says Davis could remain in jail for at least a week as he gives her deputies time to comply with his order.
 
Deputy clerk Brian Mason issued the license Friday morning, congratulating the couple and shaking their hands as he smiled. The couple embraced and cried.
 
The Casey County clerk, Casey Davis (no relation to Kim Davis) that has been riding his bike in Pikeville across the state last week, will be in Paducah by this evening at around 6:30 pm.

There is a rally scheduled for this evening at around that time, in support of Kim Davis at Dolly McNut Plaza on South 5th Street.