Clerk tells lesbian couple ‘God is judging’ them… as they tried to get married
A deputy clerk in Virginia is under fire – after ruining a lesbian couple’s happy day by shouting homophobic abuse.
Same-sex marriage became legal in the state after the Supreme Court ruled last year that it is a constitutional right.
However, opponents of LGBT rights are not taking the ruling lying down – and one deputy clerk has become the latest to protest.
Samantha Brookover and Amanda Abramovich had gone to the Gilmer County clerk’s office to get their official marriage license last week.
However, the pair told the Charleston Gazette-Mail that deputy clerk Debbie Allen ranted to them about how their union was wrong in the eyes of God.
The pair said they were “flabbergasted and hurt and angry like you wouldn’t believe” to be branded an “abomination” on what was meant to be their happiest day.
Abramovish added: “To have a complete stranger — someone that doesn’t know me — scream like that, it really cut down to the bone.
“Someone at McDonald’s can’t refuse to give someone a cheeseburger because they’re a heart attack risk.
“You’ve got to do your job. You can’t just scream at people.”
Allen admitted she told the couple that God would judge them – but says she “talked nicely to them”, and denies using the word “abomination”
She said: “I just told them my opinion. I just felt led to do that.
“I believe God was standing with me and that’s just my religious belief.
“[I] didn’t care to make eye contact with them.”
She added: “We did not attack them. We did not yell at them.
“We were not aggressive with them. I felt I talked nicely to them.”
Gilmer County Clerk Jean Butcher has reportedly declined to take action, saying: “They were issued the license, and that was the main thing.”
