An Alabama judge might be the next Kim Davis.
Washington County Probate Judge Nick Williams filed a protective order petition with the Alabama Supreme Court through his attorney Wednesday that would safeguard him and others who refuse to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, according to AL.com. The move comes after Kentucky County Clerk Kim Davis was jailed for denying same-sex couples their legal rights.
"The jailing of Kentucky clerk Kimberly B. Davis put at immediate risk the liberty interest of all faithful and religiously sincere public officials in Alabama whose office has responsibility for making decisions as to whether to give sanction and honor to homosexual relationships to include the issuance of a license to engage in sodomy," the petition filed by Williams reads.
In May, an Alabama federal judge ruled the state's ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. This ruling was placed on hold ahead of the U.S. Supreme Court's June decision, which ultimately legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.
Williams, Davis and others stand in defiance of this.
"I completely disagree with the authority the Supreme Court has," Williams, who has stopped issuing marriage licenses in his district altogether, told NBC News. "I'm quite sure they broke several constitutional amendments in that ruling."
Williams has supported groups like the anti-gay Sanctity of Marriage Alabama and has been praised by local religious leaders for being "willing to do what is right and keep their counties from marrying that which God says cannot be married.”
Watch a video of Williams from the Alabama for Marriage Rally below.
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