The Kentucky clerk at the centre of a conflict over same-sex marriage closed her office on Saturday, ahead of a rally protesting her refusal to issue marriage licenses.

The protest came a day after Rowan County clerk Kim Davis asked the US supreme court to grant her “asylum for her conscience”.

Davis stopped issuing all marriage licenses after the supreme court’s June ruling in favor of same-sex marriage. Four couples have sued, saying Davis must fulfill her duties as an elected official regardless of her personal belief that gay marriage is sinful.

A few dozen people showed up to protest Davis’s ongoing refusal on Saturday. A note on the door did not explain the closure, but asked those who were inconvenienced to put their names on a list.