Arkansas Clerk Will Resign To Avoid Issuing Same-Sex Marriage Licenses

[DonViejo]

A county clerk in Arkansas will resign on Tuesday due to a moral objection to issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, ArkansasOnline reported on Monday.

Dana Guffey, who served as a clerk in Cleburne County for 24 years, said that her decision to leave the post was not made out of hate, according to ArkansasOnline.

Arkansas state Sen. Jason Rapert (R) published a tweet on Sunday with the news that a clerk in the state would resign over the Supreme Court ruling that same-sex couples have the right to marry.

Sen. Jason Rapert

‏@jasonrapert

And it begins - I have just been advised one Arkansas County Clerk will resign before issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. #resist

Arkansas, USA

https://twitter.com/jasonrapert/status/615232087541452800

Rapert said he would support clerks who refuse to issue licenses to same-sex couples. "I encourage all political leaders of Arkansas and leaders in the faith community to rally around County Clerks who choose to refuse to comply with an unjust ruling that violates religious freedom and states rights," he wrote in a Sunday Facebook post. "I encourage all likeminded political leaders around the entire nation to do the same. We cannot sit idly by while 5 robed lawyers try to seize power from the states and the people."

more
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/arkansas-clerk-resigns-gay-marriage

[Ham Sandwich]

1. She resigns to avoid SSM licensing..

She has to go find another job, because her state benefits were cut off the minute she quit and she won't get any of them.

Can you imagine going to Unemployment Office trying to look for UI and the clerk laughs at your reason for quitting, and said "Not a valid reason for collecting UI - so you better go find a job fast because I also see that you owe thousands of dollars in back taxes"

[underpants]

6. She can look for another state job

And she probably will. Trust me, she isn't going to find protections and benefits out in the private sector like you have in state jobs.

[Sheepshank]

32. I can't think of a state "clerical" type job

that doesn't entail some sort of interraction and benefit provided to gay persons. I work with City and County Recorders and it is a clerical job.

She will have to put her sensibilities aside if she wants a State Job, or justify the heck out of the idea that with any other state jobs she will be responsible to process applications for health care, medicare, medicade, driver licenses, state tax filings, food stamps, UI, job searches, housing, student loans, etc to gay person, and it's only the marriage license she is opposed to providing. More importantly, all those benefits are provided to gay persons whose benefits are calculated based on status of "single", "married" or "family". Maybe a state job isn't in the best interests of the public.

[DonViejo]

7. The clerk is a guy, picture of him at the link to the full article

[snooper2]

13. negative- Cleburne County Clerk Dana Guffey

Picture of idiot fundie lady




_srz_280_315_85_22_0.50_1.20_0.00_jpg_srz

[DonViejo]

15. Ooops. Sorry, you're correct. Picture being shown by TPM....

here, http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire suggests she is a guy. My bad. Thanks for setting the record straight (I can't decide if the pun is intended)

[we can do it]

14. No she is a woman, read the article.

[liberal N proud]

2. Thank you for creating a job opening

Maybe someone with an open mind will replace your bigotry.

[RKP5637]

3. Excellent! Others that can't perform their jobs should resign too. In fact, they should be fired! nt

[City Lights]

4. Suit yourself, bigot. Your hatred will eventually eat you alive. nt

[madokie]

5. Good riddance

[MissMillie]

20. my thoughts exactly

Open up the job for someone who can and will enforce the law of the land.

[Jamastiene]

8. I wish all of the hatemongers would resign and

let those jobs be filled by people capable of doing their job.

Gay marriage does not violate religious freedom.

[RKP5637]

9. Like DUH! It involves far more than "5 robed lawyers." Millions upon millions in this

country, millions on earth, have had their rights trashed by hatred and bigotry for no other reason than moronic beliefs by bigoted fools in obsolete superstitious behavior written by primitives eons ago, and some rationale not even written.

These bigots should stand up on their own bigoted beliefs than hiding behind religion to justify their obnoxious hatred and repulsive behavior. Try to do some good in life than justifying your accomplishments in life as sheer hatred for hate sake and a feel good for you through persecution and hatred.

[Arkana]

10. Fine. There are plenty of people who'll do the job.

You wanna quit your job because gays are icky? Fine.

[MineralMan]

11. Don't let the door hit you as you leave.

Those who refuse to do their job should simply be fired summarily. If your job is to issue marriage licenses, then issue them. It's not your job to refuse them to people whose marriages you don't like. If it were, people would be refusing them to many couples for many reasons.

You don't get to decide anything. You simply issue the marriage licenses. It's their decision to marry, not yours to allow them to marry.

Good riddance!

[CBGLuthier]

12. I hold no ill will towards her. I disagree with her moral posture

but instead of being an ass and refusing to issue she is quitting. If all the bigots would just quit their jobs I would find that a good enough outcome. We can not force people to do things. That is wrong too.

Seems to be a lot of glee expressed over this. Kind of sad. Like I said I do not agree with her but who the fuck are some of us to insist she do a job she does not want to do. I think they call that slavery. Let her go and concentrate your hate on those who have not left and refuse to do their jobs. Show some class DU.

[ladyVet]

22. You can force someone to do their job, though.

I suspect her employment contract stipulates that she follow the law and perform the duties she is assigned. Therefore, refusal to provide a marriage license to anyone legally entitled to one is dereliction of duty, and a termination offense.

[CBGLuthier]

24. No, you can not force someone to do something. She quit

Anyone can quit. We are not slaves. We do not want slaves. Really the incessant crowing about this is getting a bit sickening. Anyone has a choice. Do the job or don't. She won't and she quit rather than do it. I was not put on this earth to run other people's lives and neither was anyone else.

[Mariana]

35. Yes, she's doing the right thing by quitting.

I don't see why you're so sickened. It's reasonable for people to be happy that this bigot won't be drawing a public salary anymore.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

16. Now THAT is the proper response to feeling you are unable to do your job.

If you can't bring yourself to actually do what's legally part of your job, then quit and clear the way for someone who will.

[logosoco]

17. it has been almost 30 years since I applied for a marriage license, but I seem to

recall that the only thing the clerk needed to know was that we were who we said we were, that we were not married to anyone else at the time and that we were not related. Other than that, there are no other things a clerk needs to know. Anything else is the clerk putting personal judgement in it and, if they cannot stop themselves from doing that, they most certainly need to find another job. Maybe one where they aren't really working with people, since they are so judgmental.

Edited to add: the clerk also needs to know you have the fee.

[yellowcanine]

19. Well good for her. It is the honorable thing to do. Others should do the same.

I don't agree with her but if she really feels that way then this is the honorable thing to do.

[Sunlei]

21. good resign bigot and no unemployment benefits for quitters.

[Sunlei]

23. Arkansas is a Common-law marriage state? you don't even need a marriage license or any civil clerk

or any church or any official ceremony

Common law and statutory marriage have the following characteristics in common:
1.Both parties must freely consent to the marriage
2.Both parties must be of legal age to contract a marriage or have parental consent to marry
3.Neither party may be under a disability that prevents him or her from entering into a valid marriage - e.g. they must both be of sound mind, neither of them can be currently married, and some jurisdictions do not permit prisoners to marry.

Otherwise, common law marriage differs from statutory marriage as follows:
1.There is no marriage license issued by a government and no marriage certificate filed with a government
2.There is no formal ceremony to solemnize the marriage before witnesses
3.The parties must hold themselves out to the world as husband and wife (this is not a requirement of statutory marriage)
4.Most jurisdictions require the parties to be cohabiting at the time the common law marriage is formed. Some require cohabitation to last a certain length of time (e.g. three years) for the marriage to be valid. But cohabitation alone does not create a marriage. The parties must intend their relationship to be, and to be regarded as, a legally valid marriage.

[central scrutinizer]

25. GoFundMe page up in 3,...2,...1,...

She'll be a millionaire by the end of the week and won't need to work.

[Mariana]

37. She'll also be hailed at her church

as a persecuted heroine of the faith, most likely.

[merrily]

26. Dana has every right to resign if she can't or won't do her job.

[Adrahil]

27. I'll say this: I respect her...

more than I do those who simply refuse to perform their duty.

At least she recognizes that if she is unwilling to perform the duties of the office, she is unfit to serve.

[MadrasT]

28. Bye. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

[rock]

29. He's gonna resign. Well, it's free country.

(I love irony)

[JoePhilly]

30. Good. Do your job, or quit.

[MoonRiver]

31. Don't let the door hit your bigoted ass

[Surya Gayatri]

33. May her self-imposed retirement be long and leisurely, with ample time to reflect on bias & bigotry.

[AwakeAtLast]

34. Good. n/t

[UTUSN]

36. Good (for resigning). What other exemptions to serving the public did the jerk harbor? n/t

[Hestia]

38. I'm wondering if she has really thought this out, other than pressure from the preacher and

Rappert (funny, support generally doesn't mean financial)? There's not much in Cleburne County as it is. There are one or two white-flight retirement communities from the North and that's about it. People who put in chicken houses from Pilgrim's Pride filed bankruptcy and lost family land around that area.

She'll have to drive aways to get employment if she really does quit, over 1/2 being on two-lane highways. It's a nightmare in ice and snow. There is very little as far as jobs go up there.

This is the ultimate cutting off your nose to spite your face situation if there ever was one.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleburne_County,_Arkansas

I think she needs to get out of the limelight, take some vacation days, and really think about this. I feel she is being pushed by the wrong parties into making a horrible life decision that she'll not be able to come back from financially, while her "backers" skip off down the road wrecking havoc somewhere else.

Oh, well, live and learn...

[frylock]

39. Well, bye.