Ann Barnett says she's always tried to do the right thing, whether for her church, her five children, her husband of 31 years or the people she serves as Kern County's elected clerk and auditor-controller.
So she's bewildered by the anger that's come her way since she decided -- just before gay marriages become legal -- to stop holding all civil weddings at her county offices.
On Thursday, she appeared stung by critics who have labeled her a "religious terrorist" and called for her resignation; by the hate mail that has flooded her office; by the unceasing requests for interviews, so many that she has unplugged her home phone.
"I'm just a county clerk trying to do my job," said the tall and soft-spoken 53-year-old, dressed in business attire, hands folded primly on her lap. "I wasn't out to make a statement."
But critics say Barnett is not doing her job -- at least not fully.
Though her office will hand out marriage licenses to same-sex couples beginning Tuesday as required by law, her decision to stop offering low-cost civil ceremonies to any couples ends a practice that Kern County clerks have provided for decades.
Critics say her ban on wedding ceremonies will hit the county's poorest residents hardest. They believe she has imposed her religious beliefs on a state office, penalizing the downtrodden in the process.
Barnett does not say she made the decision for religious reasons. But if she did, she would seem to be in step with Kern County's conservative electorate, 80% of whom favored Proposition 22's ban on gay marriage in 2000.
Whitney Wedell, a leader in Bakersfield's small but close-knit gay community, acknowledged that gay men and lesbians face an uphill battle finding acceptance in the county. But she said that shouldn't give an elected official license to sidestep the law.
Anyway, Wedell said, Barnett's decision won't stop gay marriage in Kern County.
"She is required to hand out licenses, so she will be making these marriages happen whether she likes it nor not," said Wedell, who plans to marry her partner of two years Tuesday on a shaded patio just outside the clerk's office.
"If it really bothers her conscience, she might want to consider stepping down," Wedell said.
About two dozen ministers have volunteered to marry people -- gay and straight -- for free Tuesday outside the clerk's office.
