Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore issued an order saying that a ruling issued last March by the Alabama Supreme Court remains in effect and that probate judges “have a ministerial duty not to issue any marriage license contrary” to Alabama’s law and constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, the Birmingham News reports.

Pastor Kevin Swanson, who led a conference featuring Republican presidential candidates, said at the same event how he would react to his son marrying another man.

Said Swanson: “What would you do if that was the case? Here is what I would do: sackcloth and ashes at the entrance to the church and I’d sit in cow manure and I’d spread it all over my body. That’s what I would do and I’m not kidding, I’m not laughing.”

A federal judge “ordered a Kentucky clerk jailed for contempt of court because of her refusal to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples,” the New York Times reports.

Said Judge David Bunning: “The court cannot condone the willful disobedience of its lawfully issued order. If you give people the opportunity to choose which orders they follow, that’s what potentially causes problems.”

New York Times: “Five of the six deputy county clerks for Rowan County agreed Thursday that they would issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples hours after a federal judge ordered their defiant boss to jail because of her refusal to do so.”

“As a public official, comply with the law or resign.”

— Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), in an interview with Hugh Hewitt, on the defiant Kentucky clerk who refuses to issue marriage licenses to gay couples.

“A county clerk in Kentucky who objects to same-sex marriage on religious grounds denied licenses to gay couples on Tuesday, saying she was acting ‘under God’s authority,’ just hours after the Supreme Court refused to support her position,” the New York Times reports.

U.S. News reports the clerk herself has been married four times.

The Supreme Court “refused to allow a county clerk in Kentucky who objects to same-sex marriage on religious grounds to continue to deny marriage licenses to all couples, gay or straight,” the New York Times reports.

“The case concerns Kim Davis, an elected clerk in rural Rowan County, Ky. After the state’s governor told county clerks to issue marriage licenses to all eligible couples, a federal court rejected Ms. Davis’s argument that she should be excused from the obligation given her religious beliefs.”

New York Times: “Legislation granting protections for tax-exempt organizations and individuals objecting to same-sex marriage on religious or moral grounds is gathering momentum in the House. The bills, drafted by Representative Raúl R. Labrador, Republican of Idaho, and Senator Mike Lee, Republican of Utah, already have 130 co-sponsors. On Thursday, the Republican Study Committee, the largest, most organized group of conservatives in the House, demanded a vote.”

“At the same time, wary Republican moderates have quietly drafted a novel alternative that would actually expand legal protections for gay men and lesbians. Their legislation would narrow the scope of protection offered to groups declining services to same-sex couples seeking to marry.”

A Missouri country voted unanimously to observe one year of “mourning” over the Supreme Court’s June 26 decision that gay couples have the constitutional right to marriage, the Salem News reports.

The observance will come in the form of lowering the flags at the county courthouse and judicial building to below half-staff for the next year.

Rick Santorum said he wants “a constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between a man and a woman in all 50 states,” Bloomberg reports.

Said Santorum: “I believe we need a national standard for marriage. I don’t think we can have a standard from one state to another on what marriage is,” adding that he wants “to define marriage the way it was defined for 4,000 years of human history.”

The remarks put Santorum to the right of rivals such as Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Gov. Scott Walker (R), “who are pushing a different kind of constitutional amendment that would allow states to decide whether to allow or ban same-sex marriage, rather than an amendment that would set a national standard.”

A new Reuters poll finds that 63% of Republicans oppose the Supreme Court’s backing of gay marriage, which gives hope for conservative presidential candidates who have come out strongly against marriage equality.

“When asked in general whether they support allowing same-sex couples to marry, 51% of Americans say they do, while 35 percent oppose it. Forty-eight percent of independent voters back gay marriage, making it difficult for a conservative Republican to win general election votes on the issue.”