Mike Huckabee Urges 'Free Kim Davis'; Others Call Her a Rosa Parks

Kim Davis’s jailing today after being found in contempt of court is making her even more of a martyr to the right wing, with Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee posting a “Free Kim Davis” petition on his campaign website, others calling for revolution, and at least one equating her with civil rights icon Rosa Parks.

Huckabee sent out a tweet this afternoon promoting the petition on behalf of the Kentucky county clerk who refuses to comply with a court order that she follow the law and issue marriage licenses to both same-sex and opposite-sex couples and has been taken into custody by U.S. Marshals. Addressed to President Obama, Attorney General Loretta Lynch, and U.S. District Judge David Bunning (who held her in contempt), it reads, “Immediately release Kim Davis from federal custody. Exercising Religious Liberty should never be a crime in America. This is a direct attack on our God-given, constitutional rights.”

Others speaking out for Davis include the reliably homophobic commentator Bryan Fischer and a caller to his American Family Radio show. The caller said millions of people need to march on Washington, D.C., to shut down the federal government. Otherwise, he said, “our voice will not be heard, because the media belongs to the Antichrist. … We’re at the point now where there must be a massive national upheaval. If we cannot have it, I will predict, I will prophesy to you, there will be blood and it will be massive.”

“You might be right about this,” replied Fischer, who earlier this week equated Davis’s cause with the abolitionist movement and resistance to the Nazis. He said Davis will “wind up being the person on which American history turns,” adding, “When the homosexual agenda advances, religious liberty is forced into retreat, and now it has been forced into prison.” (Watch below, courtesy of Right Wing Watch.)

Fischer also said every Republican presidential candidate needs to take a stand on Davis, as he considers this “the dividing line in the GOP nomination campaign.” In addition to Huckabee, Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, and Bobby Jindal have made statements of support for her.

As for other right-wing activists, Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, said today’s events show that “religious liberty in America is in grave danger” as a consequence of the Supreme Court’s marriage equality decision. He also called for Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear to call a special session of the legislature to take action to accommodate Davis’s religious beliefs. (Beshear, for his part, says there is no need for a special session.)

Concerned Women for America president Penny Nance issued a similar statement, saying Davis’s “predicament is the direct result of the lawlessness promoted by the Supreme Court of the United States itself with its unconstitutional Obergefell decision.” She likewise urged an “accommodation” for Davis.

There have also been tweets from a variety of antigay commentators. See a selection below and even more here.

Ending anti-Christian persecution is the civil rights cause of our time. And #KimDavis is our time's Rosa Parks #Homofascism #StandWithKim — Matt Barber (@jmattbarber) September 3, 2015

Liberals pretended this wouldn't happen, but now a Christian has been sent to jail for refusing to issue a same-sex marriage license. — Phyllis Schlafly (@PhyllisSchlafly) September 3, 2015