A county clerk's office in rural Kentucky issued marriage licenses to two gay couples on Friday morning after defying a U.S. district judge's orders for months.
After Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis was jailed on Thursday for refusing to follow the orders of U.S. District Judge David Bunning, her deputies processed a marriage license to James Yates and William Smith, who had previously been denied one five times, after the clerk's office opened on Friday.
Attorneys for Davis said on Thursday she would deny her deputies the authority to issue licenses.
That raised questions about the validity of the documents until the matter is settled in court.
The issuance of the licenses followed months of legal wrangling between Davis and the courts that drew global attention and protests from supporters and opponents of gay marriage.