Oregon county clerk Kim Davis' husband says she's holding up after denying gay marriages

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'She's holding up real good': Husband of county clerk Kim Davis says she won't back down - as an Oregon judge is investigated for refusal to perform same-sex marriages
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Joe Davis said his wife, Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis, is prepared to sit in jail for months after refusing to grant marriage licenses to gay couples
Mrs Davis, an Apostolic Christian from Kentucky, believes that same-sex marriage is a sin
Hundreds gathered on Saturday for a prayer rally outside of the Clark County Detention Center where she is being held, chanting 'free Kim Davis'
Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee plans to meet with Davis
Marion County Circuit Judge Vance Day has been asking his clerks to refer couples seeking same-sex marriages to judges in other Oregon counties
Day, a former chairman of the Oregon Republican Party, decided to stop performing weddings altogether last fall in order to avoid potential conflicts
Investigation into Judge Day by judicial fitness commission came to light Thursday
Ohio Supreme Court's Board of Professional Conduct said last month that judges can't refuse to marry same-sex couples based on personal beliefs

By Louise Boyle In Grayson, Kentucky For Dailymail.com and Associated Press

Published: 12:19 EST, 5 September 2015 | Updated: 21:03 EST, 5 September 2015

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The husband of county clerk Kim Davis told Daily Mail.com today that she was 'holding up real good' and was prepared to sit in prison for months after being jailed for refusing to grant marriage licenses to gay couples.

Joe Davis said his wife was in good spirits and 'holding strong' when he spoke to her from her jail cell on Friday.

Mr Davis received hugs and handshakes from many of the hundreds of supporters who had turned up at a 'prayer rally' for his jailed wife outside the Carter County Detention Center in Grayson, Kentucky, on Saturday morning.

Supporters stood in soaring temperatures to listen to pastors, some who called Kim Davis 'a hero' while denouncing same-sex marriage. Those incited crowds into chants of 'Free Kim Davis' and 'Thank you Kim'.

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Joe Davis (left), the husband of Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis (mugshot right), said she was 'holding up real good' and that she wouldn't cave and was prepared to sit in jail for months when he spoke to Daily Mail.com

Joe Davis, husband of Rowan County clerk, Kim Davis, who was jailed on Thursday is seen at a prayer support rally on Saturday morning at the Carter County Detention Center in Grayson, Kentucky

Mr Davis took to the stage and said: 'I thank God for giving me a wife that stands strong'

Davis (pictured in leg shackles and handcuffs being walked to her cell), believes gay marriage is a sin

Mr Davis later made a short speech on stage, saying: 'I thank God for giving me a wife that stands strong.'

He broke down as he added: 'I'm just an old, dumb, country hillbilly but I know God saves.'

Joe Davis also relayed a message from his wife to her supporters: 'Hold your head high because I am.'

Among the signs held up by supporters were 'Kim Davis for president', 'God's will not ours' and 'God gives his hardest battles to his strongest soldiers'.

These supporters went so far as to say Kim Davis should run for president at the prayer rally at the Carter County Detention Center, where she is being held

Even children held up signs offering Davis support as adults chanted passages from the Bible

The Rowan County Clerk will spend Labor Day weekend in isolation at the Carter County Detention Center with her Bible and her clear conscience.

She has held a Bible study at the detention center every Monday night for the past few years.

Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee said he planned to meet with Davis on Tuesday.

These gatherers at the prayer rally at the Carter County Detention Center made their feelings very clear

Some supporters wore the Knights Templar cross on baseball caps as they held up signs supporting Davis

These pamphlets were handed out, telling people what they could do to show further support for Davis

Alan Hoyle, of North Carolina, dressed up for the rally while Donna Quisenberry of Greyson County held up a huge bright pink sign

Donna Quisenberry was among those who prayed hard for Davis during Saturday's protest

Hundreds of people gathered outside the jail where Davis has been held since Thursday

Alan Hoyle, who travelled from North Carolina, leans against a very strong-worded anti-gay sign

Meanwhile in Oregon, Marion County Judge Vance Day is being investigated by a judicial fitness commission in part over his refusal to perform same-sex marriages on religious grounds, a spokesman for the judge said.

When a federal court ruling in May 2014 made same-sex marriage legal in Oregon, Day instructed his staff to refer same-sex couples looking to marry to other judges, spokesman Patrick Korten said Friday.

The Rowan County courthouse was empty of demonstrators this weekend following rallies there last week

Rowan County deputy clerk Brian Mason (left) shakes hands with James Yates, and his partner William Smith Jr after issuing their their marriage license at the Rowan County Judicial Center in Morehead, Kentucky

Last fall, he decided to stop performing weddings altogether, aside from one in March that had long been scheduled, Korten said.

Marion County Circuit Judge Vance Day is asking his staff to refer couples seeking same-sex marriages to other judges due to his religious beliefs

'He made a decision nearly a year ago to stop doing weddings altogether, and the principal factor that he weighed was the pressure that one would face to perform a same-sex wedding, which he had a conflict with his religious beliefs,' Korten said.

In an email, Day declined to comment and referred questions to Korten.

The issue of same-sex weddings is 'the weightiest' of several allegations against Day that are being investigated by the Commission on Judicial Fitness and Disability, Korten said.

He declined to detail any of the allegations, saying he didn't want to defy the commission, which considers complaints confidential until it is ready to make them public.

The investigation of Day's conduct comes amid heightened national attention to the responsibilities of public officials who oppose same-sex marriage.

Last month, the Ohio Supreme Court's Board of Professional Conduct said judges can't refuse to marry same-sex couples on personal, moral or religious grounds.

Judges who stop performing all marriages to avoid marrying same-sex couples may be interpreted as biased and could be disqualified from any case where sexual orientation is an issue, the Ohio board ruled.

The investigation of Day came to light Thursday when the Oregon Government Ethics Commission - a separate entity from the judicial fitness commission - approved the judge's request to create a legal defense fund to pay his lawyers.

Day, a former chairman of the Oregon Republican Party, was appointed to the bench in 2011 by then-Gov. John Kitzhaber, a Democrat.

Day's move concerned Jeana Frazzini, co-director of the gay-rights group Basic Rights Oregon.

'Taking that kind of a step really calls into question how an LGBTQ person could expect to be treated in a court of law,' Frazzini said.

'It goes beyond marriage and gets to serious questions about judicial integrity.'

A completed and legal marriage license a gay couple received at the Rowan County Courthouse on Thursday

Deputy clerk Mason handed a legal and completed marriage license to Michael and Timothy Long this week

Jesse Cruz got a hug from his partner, Robbie Blankenship, after they received their legal marriage license

Back in Kentucky, at least three same-sex couples will spend the weekend planning weddings after finally receiving the marriage licenses they asked for months ago but were denied because Davis believes gay marriage is a sin.

'Republican presidential candidate Mike Hucakbee said he plans to meet with Davis on Tuesday

The Rowan County Clerk's office issued the licenses to same-sex couples on Friday under threat of jail time or fines if they didn't comply with a federal judge's order.

While the licenses were freely given, the drama surrounding the clerk does not appear to be ending anytime soon.

Davis met with her attorneys in jail Friday and told them she would 'never violate her conscience or betray her God'.

US District Judge David Bunning has said he will not release Davis unless she agrees to obey his order.

Davis' attorneys said the only way she would relent would be to change Kentucky's state law so that marriage licenses are not issued under the authority of the county clerk.

They claim the licenses that were issued were not valid.