Kentucky court clerk Kim Davis, who was jailed last year for not issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, is expected to attend President Barack Obama's final State of the Union Tuesday evening, at the invitation of an unnamed member of Congress. She gained international attention during the legal and employment controversy, and on Sept. 25, 2015, said she switched from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party.
Family Research Council representatives arranged for Davis to be in the House audience along with her attorney Mat Staver, reports the Conservative Firing Line.
"We are not releasing the names of the Congressmen who provided tickets for Kim and Mat because the focus should not be on the Congressmen or politics but on why Kim and (Liberty Council Chairman) Mat Staver are there. Kim will be in the gallery tonight as a counterweight to the President's message. She is representing many Americans who have been adversely affected by the President's policies, specifically this Administration's trampling of religious liberty," said Charla Bansley of Liberty Counsel, as reported by CNN Tuesday.
The Hill stated the Rowan County clerk would be joined in the audience by Jim Obergefell, the plaintiff in the landmark Supreme Court case last June that legalized same-sex marriage, Obergefell v. Hodges. Obergefell will be a guest of Obama at his speech. That case transformed the one-time Cincinnati real-estate broker into a gay rights activist and political star.
Davis also attended an event for the Family Research Council in D.C. on Monday night, according to the Washington Examiner.
Davis asserted Monday night that Christians will have to "battle" to hold on to their religious liberties, reports The Christian Post Tuesday.
"Whether you acknowledge it or not, we are living in End Times," Davis said.
"How soon will the Lord return? I don't know but definitely there are signs that we are in the end of times and there is a lot of stuff that has to happen to fulfill Bible prophecy. The word of God is infallible."
She told The Christian Post intolerance toward traditional Christian beliefs in America will only "get worse."
Davis spent at least five days in jail last September when she refused a court order to allow her office to issue marriage licenses because she objected to having her name on licenses that authorize marriages that she feels violate her Apostolic Christian faith.
She said she didn't want to quit her job or retire, because "doing so would cause her to lose the platform and voice that God gave her during a time she believes Christians need to stand up for their religious freedoms."
One fellow American, James Lewis, posted on Facebook Tuesday afternoon that "Inviting Kim Davis to the State of the Union is not only an insult to all #LGBT Americans & people of good will, but also an insult to the rule of law and OUR Constitution."
