Judge slammed in grand jury report for refusing to officiate lesbian couple's weddinghttps://www.lgbtqnation.com/2026/06/judge-slammed-in-grand-jury-report-for-refusing-to-officiate-lesbian-couples-wedding/ 🔗Alex Bollinger (8 June 2026)
A grand jury in New York ruled that a judge who refused to marry a same-sex couple in 2024 should be removed from office, ripping into her by accusing her of "[laying] bare her bigotry towards homosexual people and her willingness to put her personal feelings above her oath as an official charged with discharging the law."
In late 2024, the story broke about how Syracuse City Court Judge Felicia Pitts-Davis performed a marriage for a straight couple and then left the courtroom without explanation, just as the next wedding scheduled for that day – between two women, Shawntay and Niccora Davis, ages 33 and 29 – was scheduled to start. The couple was dumbfounded and had to wait for another judge to arrive to officiate the marriage.
"She looked at us with this look on her face and swished her hair," the Davises said at the time. "She just walked off. Like, she was just disgusted or something."
A grand jury investigated, talking to six witnesses and examining three exhibits. A grand jury can investigate public officials in the state of New York for misconduct.
The jury recommended Judge Pitts-Davis's removal last week in a unanimous decision. She then tried to have the report sealed, but the grand jury refused her request and released a copy over the weekend, which the Syracuse Post-Standard obtained.
