US clerk says will let deputies issue licenses to gays

Washington: The Kentucky clerk sent to jail for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same sex-couples said today she would not prevent her deputies from issuing them, but asked that her name be removed from the documents.

Kim Davis, a born again Christian, returned to work today after being released from jail last week.

At a press conference, she said she continued to have objections to issuing marriage licenses to homosexuals, but would no longer stand in the way of her deputies doing so.

She also called Kentucky's government to provide a way for people who disagree with the policy to object without facing risk of prison.

"I urge Governor (Steve) Bashear, the legislature, and the court to intervene," Davis said.

"They have the authorization and the authority to provide these types of accommodations and there's no reason why they cannot do so," Davis said at a press conference.

"Are we not a big enough, a loving enough and a tolerant enough state to find a way to accommodate my religious convictions?

"While my case may be the most visible, there are millions of others out there in the private and public sector who face and are in the same position. They also need reasonable accommodations."

Davis was jailed for contempt last week for defying a court order to issue licenses to same-sex couples, which the Supreme Court legalized across the United States in June.

The federal judge who ordered her held on contempt later allowed her release after five of Davis' six deputy clerks stated under oath that they would issue marriage certificates "to all legally eligible couples," including homosexual couples.