W.Va. Lesbians Allegedly Called 'An Abomination' by County Clerk

When a lesbian couple from West Virginia went to get their marriage license last week, they were dismayed and humiliated to find that it came with a message of condemnation from the deputy clerk that issued it.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reported that when Samantha Brookover and her partner Amanda Abramovich went to Glenville's Gilmer County Courthouse to pick up their marriage license, they also got an earful from a clerk who told them that their relationship was "an abomination," and that God would judge them.

"It just takes one person to remind you how close-minded our world is," Brookover said.

But Debbie Allen, the deputy clerk who processed their marriage license, and another deputy clerk, Angela Moore, disputed allegations from the couple and Brookover's mother, Jill Goff, also present, saying that she didn't think Allen was very loud, although Moore admitted she couldn't hear everything.

"I was working on what I was supposed to be doing and, honestly, I didn't care to make eye contact with them," said Moore.

The clerks don't dispute that Allen told the couple that what they were doing was wrong and that they would be judged, but they also stressed that they did not view the statement as an "attack."

"We did not attack them," Allen said. "We did not yell at them. We were not aggressive with them. I felt I talked nicely to them." Because apparently it is a nicety to congratulate a couple on their wedding day by letting them know they are an abomination.

Brookover and Abramovich, though, say Allen was rude and loud, yelling that what they were doing was wrong in her eyes and in God's eyes and that no one in Gilmer County would ever marry them.

"I just told them my opinion," said Allen. "I just felt led to do that. I believe God was standing with me and that's just my religious belief."

Asked if her words could possibly have been perceived as an attack to someone of another sexual orientation, who has been belittled because of it, Allen said, "Oh, I'm sure."

The couple had brought family members for what was supposed to be a happy day, but instead, said Brookover, they ended up "flabbergasted and hurt and angry like you wouldn't believe."

House Bill 4012, currently in the Legislature and known as the West Virginia Religious Freedom Restoration Act, would allow clerks to deny marriage licenses to same-sex couples based on their religious beliefs.

The Gazette reports that the bill is up for a vote in the House of Delegates today. Civil rights advocates warn the bill could lead to discrimination against LGBT individuals, as well as other historically discriminated against groups.