Sympathy For the Clerk

Whenever a polarizing issue occurs, I prefer to sit back and watch the spectacle unfold. This week I am especially entertained by the hilarity surrounding Kentucky County Clerk, Kim Davis, and the amusing memes resulting from her ovariesy behavior. That’s my alternative use of the word, “ballsy.” As a gay man, it is easy for people to assume that I would be completely appalled by her shenanigans, but I am actually quite taken with her.

 Her hilarious attempt at denying marriage licenses to my fellow gays has a somewhat endearing quality when you examine it closely. When I see her calmly and unwaveringly defend what she believes is morally right, I say to myself: “She’s got moxie. She’s batshit crazy, but she’s got moxie.”
In a world full of pretenders and lemmings, it’s quite refreshing to see someone endure public scrutiny, prison time, and the scorn of Margaret Cho all in the name of personal integrity. Dare I make the comparison between Kim Davis and the guy who stood in front of the tanks during the Tiananmen Square protests? We need people like Kim Davis, not only for entertainment value, but also to personify stick-to-itiveness and gusto. Sherlock Holmes doesn’t want to go up against Kelly Bundy; he needs his Professor Moriarty in order to make it a worthy fight.

I am not a fan of marriage (that explanation will happen in a separate post) but I understand why it is so important to those who do not have the luxury of being able to wed whenever it is convenient or lucrative for them, so I hope that people realize that I’m not marginalizing the plight of same-gender couples. I just think that people should give Kim Davis a break for a hot second.

She isn’t one of those jerkfaces who called you “faggot” under their breaths when they saw you holding hands with your now ex-boyfriend who back then emotionally blackmailed you into visiting him in the very homophobic town of Valparaiso, Indiana. No, she’s a little more refined than that – not as refined as Anne of Avonlea, but you get a “get out of jail free” card when you live in a cultural vacuum like Rowan County.