County clerk candidate promises to deny gay couples marriage licenses if elected

[Behind the Aegis]

Jake Oaks is running for county clerk in Utah County, and he’s promising to deny same-sex couples marriage licenses if he gets elected. The area is Utah’s second-most populous county, encompassing Provo; it is south of Salt Lake City.

Oaks, who is running with the Independent American Party against Republican Aaron Davidson in November (there is no Democrat in the race), says that his understanding of constitutional law would prohibit him from respecting equal rights for same-sex couples.

“I think it’s important that we follow what the Constitution says. I swear an oath to the Constitution of the United States and the state constitution,” Oaks told the Salt Lake Tribune. “I would have to enforce what our state constitution says with there being no delegated powers to the federal government to be able to define marriage.”

His argument is that the state of Utah passed a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage in 2004. A federal court overturned that ban in 2013, saying that it violated the due process and equal protection guarantees of the U.S. Constitution, and the Supreme Court refused to hear the state’s appeal.

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