Kim Davis. Her name alone elicits a strong opinion, be it positive or negative. But one word that should not come to mind when thinking of her is martyr. Davis, a Rowan County, KY., clerk, has repeatedly refused to issue marriage licenses for same-sex couples, because it goes against her religious beliefs. Due to her refusal, she was held in contempt and jailed, which led to many coming to her defense. Even after she was told by the courts that she had to issue the marriage licenses, she didn’t listen and was held in contempt. Davis was jailed without bail. This was a good decision on the judge’s part, as her supporters would have quickly come to her rescue and paid her bail. Jailing her allowed for her to face the consequences of her actions. But since Davis is an elected official, she can’t be fired from her position and has refused to resign. Yet if her religious beliefs prevent her from putting her name on the marriage licenses, then she should just leave.

Davis claims that the government is taking away her rights while she herself is infringing upon the rights of an entire community. Same-sex marriage has now been legalized by the Supreme Court, and gay couples now have the right to get married to whomever they want to. Issuing a marriage license to same-sex couples may have gone against her religious beliefs, but that shouldn’t have prevented her from doing her job. If part of her job requires her to do something that goes against her religion, she shouldn’t have the job. By refusing to issue marriage licenses after the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage, she is not upholding the law that she implicitly swore to comply with by being an American citizen. Certainly, the Supreme Court hasn’t always been correct in its rulings in the past, as seen in the example of Dred Scott v. Sanford where the Court ruled that Scott wasn’t a freed slave. But Kim Davis is nothing like Dred Scott. Scott continued to serve as a slave for a decade after the ruling until he acquired his freedom, and he abided by the law rather than refusing to acknowledge it. If Davis was anything like Scott, she would have made public her views on the decision, but still issued marriage licenses until the Supreme Court, theoretically, overturned their ruling. She has no right as a government employee to deny a person a marriage license on the grounds that it goes against her religion.

Every citizen is entitled to hold their religious beliefs, but they aren’t allowed to impose those beliefs on others and expect the government to find that acceptable. The government has always maintained a separation between the church and state as not everyone shares the same religion. We have the right to practice any religion we want and not be persecuted because of differing beliefs.  In this case, Davis is forcing her religious beliefs onto an entire community. She claims that she is being persecuted by the government while simultaneously persecuting same-sex couples. How does allowing same-sex couples to exercise their constitutional right go against her religious freedom?

When working for the government, you have no right to discriminate. Everyone is equal, and is afforded the same rights as the next person. You can’t deny the right of an entire community simply out of hate.

Many are comparing Kim Davis to Martin Luther King Jr., which is a laughable comparison. Davis is nothing like King; if anything, she’s like Alabama Governor George Wallace. Governor Wallace was staunchly against integration, and even went as far as physically blocking black students from entering a school. Davis is essentially doing the same thing to same-sex couples that want to get married in Rowan county. She is denying them their right to get married just like Wallace denied black people their right to attend a nonsegregated school even after the Supreme Court declared it to be constitutional. Whilst King fought for the basic rights of an entire community, Davis is fighting to take away a right. Just because she went to jail doesn’t put her on the same level as King.

Whatever your religious beliefs may be, they don’t give you permission to deny a basic civil right to an entire community. What Davis wants is for her own religious beliefs to be superior to the rights and beliefs of others. And her supporters need to stop seeing her as a martyr for that.