First Same-Sex Marriage Licenses Handed Out in Rowan County

The first same-sex marriage licenses were given out in Rowan County, Kentucky, on September 4 after County Clerk Kim Davis, who had refused to give the licenses in defiance a Supreme Court order, went to prison. Davis’s deputies were willing and able to give out the licenses, and a number of couples availed of the service. There were tense scenes outside the County Clerk’s building as marriage-equality activists and their opponents gathered.

William Smith Jr and James Yates were the first to receive a marriage license, reporters at the scene said. Credit: LEX 18 News/Claire Crouch