Clerk Gets To Call Gay Couples "Abomination," As Long As She Gives Them Marriage License
Weeks after committing themselves to one another in a ceremony in front of friends and family, a lesbian couple was called an "abomination" by a county clerk while trying to get their marriage license.
Samantha Brookover and Amanda Abramovich went to the Gilmer County courthouse to get the certificate a month after their commitment ceremony in September 2014. Same-sex marriage had just become legal in their home state of West Virginia and the couple were eager to make their union official in the eyes of the government.
“Yes, this was essentially a piece of paper, but at the same time it was the most exciting piece of paper we could ever get,” Brookover told The Washington Post.
Unfortunately, things went south as soon as they entered the courthouse. At first, they were turned away because a deputy clerk wrongfully told them they couldn't get a license without a driver's license.
The couple later found out that information was false, but said at the time they didn't know any better.
“Whenever she turned us away, it was like, okay, we don’t necessarily know every rule,” Brookover said. “We trusted in her to give us the right information.”
It took the couple 16 months to return to the courthouse. By then, the Supreme Court had made same-sex marriage legal across the country.
However, the passage of marriage equality nationwide only made matters worse for the couple when they returned to the courthouse on February 3, 2016, according to a federal lawsuit filed by the women on Monday against Gilmer County.
The suit alleges that the couple was greeted by Deputy Clerk Debbie Allen, who "launched into a tirade of harassment and disparagement" as soon as she saw them. She began to process the paperwork, but criticized the women for their choices, slammed papers on her desk and screamed that they couple was an "abomination" and that God would "deal with them."
Adding insult to injury, the tirade occurred not only in front of other patrons, but also in front of Brookover's mother, stepfather and 3-year-old niece, all of whom had come to support the couple.
Allen was asked to stop her rant, but the deputy clerk allegedly responded that it was her "religious right to say what she wanted, as long as she issued the license," and that she had to be honest about her feelings.
Before they left the office, the lawsuit claims Allen issued one final blow: “Allen told Amanda and Samantha that officials in Gilmer County had stopped performing marriages after the court had become legally required to recognize same-sex marriages and that no one in Gilmer County would marry the couple.”
Brookover's mother contacted Allen's boss, Jean Butcher, after the incident and was told "that her staff did nothing wrong and that the next couple would get the same or worse."
When asked by the Charleston Gazette-Mail about the altercation a week after it happened, Allen said she "briefly and calmly" told the couple that what they were doing was wrong and that God would judge them, but that she ultimately was helpful like she would be with any other couple.
Brookover and Abramovich remember it differently.
“Instead of the happiest day of our lives, we will forever remember our wedding day as one filled with fear, tears and humiliation,” they wrote in a blog post for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, whose attorneys are now representing them.
Weeks after acquiring their marriage license, Brookover and Abramovich learned that Allen's diatribe was not made in the heat of the moment, but was the clerk's planned response to all same-sex couples.
“On learning that West Virginia would now for the first time be required to issue marriage license to same-sex couples, Allen told fellow government employees in the county courthouse that, if any same-sex couple requested a marriage license from her, she would humiliate the couple and refused to issue a license to them,” the lawsuit claims.
Brookover said Butcher made similar comments to her mother, Jill Goff.
“Further, Butcher told fellow county employees that she would stand by and vouch for her deputy clerks if they harassed, humiliated or denigrated or refused to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple.”
“It’s important for these officials to understand that what they did caused real harm,” Richard Katskee, legal director at Americans United for Separation of Church and State, told The Post. “It’s important to have a deterrent for the future. The last thing in the world that they wanted was to be pursuing a cause. They just wanted to get married.”
Katskee said the couple is seeking punitive damages, although West Virginia law doesn’t allow them to name an amount in the lawsuit.
At the end of the day, Brookover and Abramovich weren't expecting the clerk in their conservative county to respect their beliefs, but hoped that she would at least do her job.
“We don’t go around flaunting it in front of everyone; we weren’t being like ‘We’re here, and we’re going to be gay whether you like it or not,’” Brookover said. “We know everybody has their difference of opinion, but it’s not a matter of your opinion as much as it is doing your job.”
She concluded: "It’s hard to drive by the courthouse. It’s hard to just deal with it. I feel like I was robbed of being a human on that day.”