Told They Were an ‘Abomination’ by County Clerk, Same-Sex Couple Settles Lawsuit and Gets Formal Apology

‘We Just Never Want Anyone Else to Be Dehumanized Because of Who They Love. Love Will Win,’ Couple Says

A West Virginia couple engaged to be wed applied for a license early last year, were told they were an “abomination,” and that God would deal with them. Gilmer County deputy clerk Debbie Allen reportedly lectured the couple for several minutes, and another clerk allegedly also began attacking them, saying Allen’s religion gave her the right to attack. 

Amanda Abramovich and Samantha Brookover, high school sweethearts who had been trying to marry since 2014, spoke out against the verbal assault, and, represented by Americans United, filed a lawsuit saying their rights to equal protection were violated. 

The lawsuit was settled Wednesday, and the couple will get a formal apology.

After filing the lawsuit, Brookover told NCRM, “We just never want anyone else to be dehumanized because of who they love. Love will win.”

“Allen launched into a tirade of harassment and disparagement. She slammed her paperwork down on her desk, screaming that the couple was an ‘abomination’ to God and that God would ‘deal’ with them,” court documents claimed. “Samantha was brought to tears.”

In their lawsuit the couple also alleged the county clerk told Brookover’s mother, who had called to complain, that her daughter deserved the abuse.

“As part of Wednesday’s settlement, Gilmer County has agreed to issue a public statement admitting wrongdoing and apologizing to Abramovich and Brookover,” MetroWeekly reports. “The county also agreed to pay $10,000 in damages to the couple, and has promised to require all county officials and employees of both the clerk’s office and the County Commission to undergo sensitivity training, which will be provided by Fairness West Virginia, within the next four months.”

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Image via Americans United