[2] Several cities in the state prohibit discrimination in employment, housing, and accommodations based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Because the law focused exclusively on penile-anal penetration, consensual sex between women was technically legal in Kentucky until 1974.

In fact, in 1909 the Kentucky Supreme Court issued a ruling in Commonwealth v. Poindexter involving two African-American men arrested for consensual oral sex.

In 1974, Kentucky revised its statutes as part of a penal code reform advocated by the American Law Institute.

"[10] Kentucky voters adopted a constitutional amendment in November 2004 that defined marriage as the union of a man and a woman and prohibited the recognition of same-sex relationships under any other name.

[13] Two lawsuits filed in federal court in (Bourke v. Beshear) 2013 and (Love v. Beshear) 2014 have challenged Kentucky's denial of marriage licenses to same-sex couples (Love case) as well as the state's refusal to recognize same-sex marriages established in other jurisdictions (Bourke case).

The Sixth Circuit overturned the rules in favor of the same-sex couples from Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee and Michigan.

[19] If passed, HB 195 would have redefined stepparent to include any non-relative adult person who the court finds as sharing parental responsibility for the child.

[20] Public employment discrimination against state workers based on sexual orientation or gender identity is illegal under an executive order by Governor Steve Beshear (Democrat) in June 2008.

[21] In February 2013, Berea Mayor Steve Connelly banned discrimination on the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation via executive order.

[22] Nineteen Kentucky cities have local non-discrimination ordinances—or Fairness Ordinances—covering sexual orientation and gender identity: Lexington-Fayette County (1999), Louisville Metro (1999), Covington (2003), Frankfort (2013), Morehead (2013), Vicco (2013), Danville (2014), Midway (2015), Paducah (2018), Maysville (2018), Bellevue (2019), Dayton (2019), Georgetown (2019), Henderson (2019), Highland Heights (2019), Versailles (2019), Cold Spring (2020), Fort Thomas (2020), and Newport (2020).

[23] Some of Kentucky's largest employers also ban sexual orientation discrimination through company policies and include such employers as Lexmark, the University of Kentucky, the University of Louisville, Toyota, Ford Motor Company, General Electric, PNC Financial Services, Yum!

Supporters, including the bill's sponsor, Representative Bob Damron, argued it was needed to protect religious believers from state encroachment, citing the case of several Kentucky Amish who were arrested for refusing to put reflectors on their buggies when traveling government-maintained roads.

[29] In March 2017 Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin signed into effect Senate Bill 17 (abbreviated as SB 17).

This conclusion is primarily drawn from the clause, "no recognized religious or political student organization is discriminated against in the ordering of its internal affairs."

Many advocates for LGBTQ-rights claim that this law is anti-LGBTQ, and that religious freedom is just a guise to limit the rights of LGBTQ students.

On March 7, 2018, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (covering Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee) ruled that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employment discrimination against transgender people under the category of sex.

She was promptly fired by her boss who said that "gender transition violat[es] God’s commands because a person’s sex is an immutable God-given fit.

In August 2020, a district court judge appointed by Trump allowed a photographer within Kentucky to refuse taking pictures of a same-sex marriage - due to an individual's held religious affiliation and beliefs.

On September 28, 2023, federal appeals judges allowed the ban to remain in effect while legal challenges to overturn it are pending.

[41] In March 2022, the Kentucky General Assembly passed a bill (SB83) to ban transgender individuals from female sports teams.

The Governor of Kentucky Andy Beshear vetoed the bill a month later in April 2022, due to "constitutionality and legal vagueness concerns".