Same-sex marriage in Kentucky
Recognized Same-sex marriage has been legal in Kentucky since the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges on June 26, 2015.
The decision, which struck down Kentucky's statutory and constitutional bans on same-sex marriages, was handed down on June 26, 2015, and Governor Steve Beshear and Attorney General Jack Conway announced almost immediately that the court's order would be implemented.
On July 1, the same judge ruled that Kentucky's denial of marriage licenses to same-sex couples violated the U.S. Constitution, but stayed implementation of both his decisions pending appeal.
[10] In a decision issued on February 12, 2014, Judge Heyburn found that Kentucky must recognize same-sex marriages from other jurisdictions because withholding recognition violated the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of equal protection.
On March 4, the Attorney General of Kentucky, Jack Conway, announced that he would neither appeal the state's position nor request further stays.
On February 14, 2014, two same-sex couples who were denied marriage licenses in Kentucky asked to be allowed to intervene in Bourke.
[16] As Judge Heyburn issued a final order in Bourke, he bifurcated the case and allowed the new plaintiffs to intervene and argue against Kentucky's denial of marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
On November 6, the Sixth Circuit ruled 2–1 in both cases that Kentucky's ban on same-sex marriage did not violate the U.S. Constitution.
It said it was bound by the U.S. Supreme Court's 1972 action a similar case, Baker v. Nelson, which dismissed a same-sex couple's marriage claim "for want of a substantial federal question."
Dissenting, Judge Martha Craig Daughtrey wrote: "Because the correct result is so obvious, one is tempted to speculate that the majority has purposefully taken the contrary position to create the circuit split regarding the legality of same-sex marriage that could prompt a grant of certiorari by the Supreme Court and an end to the uncertainty of status and the interstate chaos that the current discrepancy in state laws threatens.
[1] Governor Beshear ordered county clerks to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, "Neither your oath nor the Supreme Court dictate what you must believe.
Among the first couples to marry were Tadd Roberts and Benjamin Moore in Louisville,[21] and Marc Roland and Scott Shive in Lexington on Friday afternoon just hours after the court ruling.
On April 16, 2015, Kentucky Equality Federation v. Beshear was ruled on by Franklin County Circuit Court Judge Thomas D. Wingate.
[25] After the Supreme Court ruling in 2015 striking down bans on same-sex marriage across the United States, David Ermold and David Moore, a same-sex couple from Morehead and alumni of Morehead State University, released video footage of the Rowan County Clerk, Kim Davis, refusing to issue them a marriage license under "God's Authority.
[30] On September 1, the plaintiff couples again sought marriage licenses, but Davis defied the court's order and did not issue them.
[36] Subsequently, Governor Steve Beshear ordered all county clerks to abide by the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell.
However, reports regarding Whitley County Clerk Kay Schwartz's appearance at a religious rally outside the Kentucky State Capitol on August 22, 2015, shed new light on the reason behind the delay.
[42] On April 1, 2016, the Kentucky General Assembly unanimously passed legislation creating a single marriage license form for both same-sex and opposite-sex couples.
[43] The bill, which had the support of Governor Matt Bevin and Kim Davis,[44] gives a marriage license applicant the option of checking "bride", "groom" or "spouse" beside their name.
The Senate passed the amended version, which created the single marriage form, on April 1 by a unanimous 36–0 vote.
[50] In June 2016, Chris Hartmann, director of the Fairness Campaign, said to his knowledge "there are no counties where marriage licenses are being denied to same-sex couples" in the state.
