W.Va. office settles with lesbian couple an official called an ‘abomination’: report

A West Virginia county clerk’s office is paying a lesbian couple $10,000 and apologizing to settle a lawsuit after an official allegedly called the couple an “abomination,” The Associated Press reported.

Deputy Clerk Debbie Allen made the comment as she processed Amanda Abramovich and Samantha Brookover’s marriage license in Gilmer County, adding that God would “deal” with them, according to a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia.

Allen allegedly told the two women she was a Christian and called the couple an “abomination” in a tirade that lasted several minutes.

{mosads}Another clerk piped in, saying Allen had a “religious right” to tell the couple off, according to the complaint.

The couple, high school sweethearts, told the news service they were caught off guard by the “tirade of harassment and disparagement.”

The county clerk defended Allen when Brookover’s mother called the office to report the disparaging remarks, according to court documents.

The clerk told the mother that she believes the treatment the women received is justified and that other same-sex couples “would get the same or worse” treatment if they went to get a marriage license, the couple claimed.

Gilmer County later issued a press release calling their treatment “wrong,” the AP noted, acknowledging that the women “were disrespected and disparaged by staff.” 

Allen denied calling the couple an “abomination,” however, telling the Charleston Gazette-Mail that she “felt I talked nicely to them.”

She did acknowledge that she told Abramovich and Brookover that God would judge them.