Being related to one of the world's foremost gay icons hasn't stopped Christopher Ciccone, who is openly gay, from defending Kim Davis, the Kentucky clerk who has refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
In a lengthy, rambling Facebook post, Ciccone, who is Madonna's brother, said he believes Davis should be allowed to deny the licenses because of "religious freedom," The Hollywood Reporter reports.
"The county clerk in [Kentucky] deserves about as much support as you would give her if she were a Muslim [woman] who insisted on covering her face and refused not only gay marriages licenses, but divorce, accusations of rape and driving a car without your man's approval," he wrote.
Noting that "selective shaming and bullying corrupts a democracy," Ciccone, 54, acknowledged that Davis is required to follow federal law, but nonetheless added, "But why should she when DOJ and other civil authorities don't follow federal law when they choose not to, i.e. Washington State and Colorado (POT) come to mind."
"Once again, the gay community feels the need to be sore winners," he wrote. "Is it so difficult to allow this women her religion? Or must we destroy her in order for her to betray her faith."
He then concluded, "The rights we have all fought for, mean nothing, if we deny her hers."
Davis was jailed Sept. 3 for contempt of court after she refused to follow the orders of U.S. District Judge David Bunning and issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Her deputy at Kentucky's Rowan County Courthouse began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples Sept. 4.
Ciccone started out as one of Madonna's dancers in the early 1980s, and went on to design the stages for her 1990 Blond Ambition Tour and her 1993 Girlie Show Tour, the latter of which he also directed. His once close-knit relationship with Madonna was captured for posterity in the 1991 documentary, "Truth or Dare," but he reportedly fell out with the Queen of Pop during her eight-year marriage to director Guy Ritchie. His 2008 tell-all memoir, Life with My Sister Madonna, didn't ease the rift, but in 2012, Ciccone said he and his superstar sibling were "back to being a brother and sister" and in "a good place."
Also on HuffPost:
