Liberty Counsel, the right-wing legal group that represented Kentucky clerk Kim Davis in her unsuccessful attempt to flout the Supreme Court’s marriage equality ruling, released a statement yesterday urging its supporters to “vote for Kim” as TIME’s Person of the Year, since she “inspired a nation and the world to fight for religious liberty when she chose a prison cell rather than sacrificing her conscience.”
Davis has since backed down — under court orders — from her attempt to block her county office from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
In an email to supporters, Liberty Counsel chairman Mathew Staver likened Davis to Christian leaders “we admire like Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, Jan Huss, John Bunyan, Dietrich Bonhoeffer,” while continuing to insist that “Kim adhered to Kentucky law while standing for her First Amendment right to religious liberty and freedom of conscience.”
Kim Davis became the first Christian in America jailed as a result of the Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex “marriage.”
She joins a long list of people who were imprisoned for their conscience. People who today we admire like Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, Jan Huss, John Bunyan, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and others like them. Each had their own cause, but they all shared the same resolve not to violate their consciences.
Kim adhered to Kentucky law while standing for her First Amendment right to religious liberty and freedom of conscience. Liberty Counsel represented Kim throughout her ordeal.
According to the magazine, TIME editors will choose a winner with the announcement on December 9. But leading to the selection, they are asking readers to “have their say,” in a face-off poll.
