Congressman Steve King. (file photo)
Republican Congressman Steve King has taken to Twitter to say that if the courts can command a Kentucky clerk to violate her religious beliefs and issue same-sex marriage licenses, then the courts can order same-sex marriage ceremonies at “any altar” in a church, synagogue or mosque.
“If the state legislature had passed a same-sex marriage piece of legislation, if that happened in each of the states, then I’d accept that decision as the voice of the people and constitutional, but the Supreme Court has not only violated the constitution, they have amended it and manufactured a new right,” King said Tuesday during a telephone interview with KSCJ Radio. “What are we for as American citizens? I think that’s what we are going to have to answer.”
Kim Davis, the Kentucky clerk who was found in contempt of court and jailed when she refused to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple, was released from jail yesterday. Republican presidential candidates Mike Huckabee and Ted Cruz were in Kentucky, holding a rally for Davis, when Davis walked on stage and spoke to the crowd.
“Cheers for Huckabee and Cruz, whoever else has stepped up to defend Kim Davis,” King said. “I think she deserves the Rosa Parks Award.”
Rosa Parks, an African American who was arrested for not giving up her bus seat to a white passenger, was a prominent figure in the Civil Rights movement. There are many scholarships, awards and events around the country that carry the Rosa Parks name. Many Rosa Parks Awards are given by NAACP chapters.
(Reporting to Woody Gottburg, KSCJ, Sioux City; additional reporting by Radio Iowa’s O. Kay Henderson)