News
Same-Sex Marriage Now Legally Recognized In Kentucky
By: Associated Press
Posted on:
Update 3:30 p.m. Ian James, the executive director of FreedomOhio, responded to the same-sex marriage ruling in Kentucky:
"Freedom's coming faster and faster. US District Judge Heyburn's decision in Kentucky at its essence says that people have a 14th Amendment the right to marry the one they love.
The Kentucky ruling follows FreedomOhio's all-the-above strategy of Court, ballot, grassroots advocacy and public relations to win marriage equality in Ohio. Like all the Court cases that came before, this ruling further propels Ohio and our country closer to a day where we will better appreciate the worth and value of all our citizens.
Soon enough, we and our children will look back upon these days and wonder, "what took us so long?"
A federal judge has signed an order directing officials in Kentucky to immediately recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states and countries.
U.S. District Judge John G. Heyburn II on Thursday issued a final order throwing out part of the state's ban on gay marriages. The order makes official his Feb. 12 ruling that Kentucky's ban on same-sex marriages treated "gay and lesbian persons differently in a way that demeans them."
The order means same-sex couples may change their names on official identifications and documents and obtain any other benefits of a married couple in Kentucky. The order doesn't affect a related lawsuit seeking to force the state to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
Kentucky's attorney general has asked for a delay, which hasn't been ruled upon.