Same-sex marriage in Kentucky has been legal since the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

's ruling in ''

Obergefell v. Hodges ''Obergefell v. Hodges'', ( ), is a landmark LGBT rights case in which the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples by both the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection ...

'' on June 26, 2015. The decision, which struck down

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

's statutory and constitutional bans on

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...

s, was handed down on June 26, 2015, and Governor

Steve Beshear Steven Lynn Beshear (born September 21, 1944) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 61st governor of Kentucky from 2007 to 2015. He served in the Kentucky House of Representatives from 1974 to 1980, was the state's 44th atto ...

and Attorney General Jack Conway announced almost immediately that the court's order would be implemented. On February 12, 2014, Judge

John G. Heyburn II John Gilpin Heyburn II (November 12, 1948 – April 29, 2015) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky. Heyburn served as the Chief Judge of the Court between 2001 and 2008. Earl ...

of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky ruled that Kentucky must recognize same-sex marriages established in other jurisdictions. On July 1, the same judge ruled that Kentucky's denial of

marriage license A marriage license (or marriage licence in Commonwealth spelling) is a document issued, either by a religious organization or state authority, authorizing a couple to marry. The procedure for obtaining a license varies between jurisdiction ...

s to same-sex couples violated the

U.S. Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the natio ...

, but stayed implementation of both his decisions pending appeal. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed both those decisions on November 6. The same-sex couples asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review that decision. On January 16, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court consolidated these cases with three others and agreed to review the case as ''Obergefell v. Hodges''. Initially, following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling, four Kentucky counties were known to have refused (or announced they would refuse) to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. By June 2016, however, all counties in Kentucky had begun issuing marriage licenses or had announced their intention to do so.

Background

On November 9, 1973, the Kentucky Court of Appeals ruled in ''Jones v. Hallahan'' that two women were properly denied a

in Louisville based on dictionary definitions of

marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

, despite the fact that state

statute A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs the legal entities of a city, state, or country by way of consent. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. Statutes are rules made by le ...

s did not restrict marriage to opposite-sex couples. Its decision said that "in substance, the relationship proposed ... is not a marriage." After the Hawaii Supreme Court seemed poised to legalize

same-sex marriage in Hawaii Same-sex marriage in Hawaii has been legal since December 2, 2013. The Hawaii State Legislature held a special session beginning on October 28, 2013, and passed the ''Hawaii Marriage Equality Act'' legalizing same-sex marriage. Governor of Hawaii ...

in '' Baehr v. Miike'' in 1993, members of the

Kentucky General Assembly The Kentucky General Assembly, also called the Kentucky Legislature, is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It comprises the Kentucky Senate and the Kentucky House of Representatives. The General Assembly meets annually in the ...

began pressing for the passage of a bill banning

. Such a bill was introduced in the 1998 legislative session. It passed the

Kentucky House of Representatives The Kentucky House of Representatives is the lower house of the Kentucky General Assembly. It is composed of 100 Representatives elected from single-member districts throughout the Commonwealth. Not more than two counties can be joined to form ...

on March 11 by a vote of 84–9, and the

Kentucky Senate The Kentucky Senate is the upper house of the Kentucky General Assembly. The Kentucky Senate is composed of 38 members elected from single-member districts throughout the Commonwealth. There are no term limits for Kentucky Senators. The Kentu ...

approved the bill 13–2 on March 26. Senator Ernesto Scorsone was a vocal opponent of the legislation, stating on the floor of the Senate "When you vote 'no' on this bill or abstain, you can go home and look your mail carrier in the eye, or you neighbor, or aunt or nephew or coworker, and say, 'I was asked to go against you and support the lies and prejudice', but I didn't give in to the pressure. I voted 'no'." Governor

Paul E. Patton Paul Edward Patton (born May 26, 1937) is an American politician who served as the 59th governor of Kentucky from 1995 to 2003. Because of a 1992 amendment to the Kentucky Constitution, he was the first governor eligible to run for a second ter ...

signed the bill into law on April 2, and it went into effect on July 15, 1998. The law defined marriage as a relationship between a man and a woman, prohibited same-sex marriage and declared it contrary to public policy, and denied recognition to same-sex marriages from other jurisdictions. In November 2004, Kentucky voters approved Amendment 1, a

constitutional amendment A constitutional amendment is a modification of the constitution of a polity, organization or other type of entity. Amendments are often interwoven into the relevant sections of an existing constitution, directly altering the text. Conversely, t ...

banning same-sex marriage. It read: Kentucky's only recognition of same-sex relationships was its extension of hospital visitation rights to same-sex couples through a designated visitor statute.

Federal lawsuits

''Bourke v. Beshear''

On July 26, 2013, a same-sex couple legally married in Canada filed a

lawsuit - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...

in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky, challenging Kentucky's refusal to recognize their marriage. That case was filed by the Fauver Law Office. Three other married same-sex couples, and their children, were later added as plaintiffs. Governor

and Attorney General Jack Conway were the named defendants. The plaintiffs in ''Bourke'' argued that Kentucky should recognize same-sex marriages from other jurisdictions. The case was assigned to Judge

. 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

's guarantee of equal protection. His final order, issued on February 27, 2014, made recognition of out-of-state same-sex marriages ''

de jure In law and government, ''de jure'' ( ; , "by law") describes practices that are legally recognized, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. In contrast, ("in fact") describes situations that exist in reality, even if not legally ...

'' legal; being a final order it was then immediately subject to

appeal In law, an appeal is the process in which cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of clarifying and ...

. Heyburn stayed his decision for 21 days the next day. On March 4, the Attorney General of Kentucky, Jack Conway, announced that he would neither appeal the state's position nor request further stays. Governor Beshear said he would employ outside counsel to appeal Heyburn's ruling in ''Bourke'' to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals and to request a stay pending appeal. On March 19, Judge Heyburn extended his stay pending appeal, noting the stay granted by the U.S. Supreme Court in a similar Utah case. On the same date, the defendants lodged an interlocutory appeal of ''Bourke'' in the Sixth Circuit. Oral arguments in the case were held on August 6, 2014.

''Love v. Beshear''

On February 14, 2014, two same-sex couples who were denied marriage licenses in Kentucky asked to be allowed to intervene in ''Bourke''. 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. This portion of the case remained in district court, retitled as ''Love v. Beshear.'' A briefing schedule on this issue was completed by May 28. On July 1, Judge Heyburn found in favor of the intervening same-sex couple plaintiffs in ''Love'' and ruled that Kentucky's ban on allowing same-sex couples to marry violated the

Equal Protection Clause The Equal Protection Clause is part of the first section of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The clause, which took effect in 1868, provides "''nor shall any State ... deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal ...

of the U.S. Constitution. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals consolidated ''Love'' with ''Bourke v. Beshear''. It heard oral arguments on August 6, the same day it heard same-sex marriage cases originating in

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, and

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

Appellate decision and Supreme Court review

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 ''Richard John Baker v. Gerald R. Nelson'', 291 Minn. 310, 191 N.W.2d 185 (1971), was a case in which the Minnesota Supreme Court decided that construing a marriage statute to restrict marriage licenses to persons of the opposite sex "does not ...

'', which dismissed a same-sex couple's marriage claim "for want of a substantial federal question." Writing for the majority, Judge

Jeffrey Sutton Jeffrey Stuart Sutton (born October 31, 1960) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as the chief circuit judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Early life and career Sutton received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history fr ...

also dismissed the arguments made on behalf of same-sex couples in this case: "Not one of the plaintiffs' theories, however, makes the case for constitutionalizing the definition of marriage and for removing the issue from the place it has been since the founding: in the hands of state voters." Dissenting, Judge

Martha Craig Daughtrey Martha Craig "Cissy"
Kathryn Reed Edge, Tennessee certiorari In law, ''certiorari'' is a court process to seek judicial review of a decision of a lower court or government agency. ''Certiorari'' comes from the name of an English prerogative writ, issued by a superior court to direct that the record of ...

'' with the

on November 17. On January 16, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court consolidated these cases with three others and agreed to review the case as ''

''. The Supreme Court ruled against the states and reversed the judgment of the Sixth Circuit on June 26, 2015, requiring all states in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

to license marriages between couples of the same sex based on the

Due Process Due process of law is application by state of all legal rules and principles pertaining to the case so all legal rights that are owed to the person are respected. Due process balances the power of law of the land and protects the individual pers ...

and Equal Protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. 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. But as elected officials, they do prescribe how we must act.", he wrote to county clerks. Among the first couples to marry were Tadd Roberts and Benjamin Moore in Louisville, and Marc Roland and Scott Shive in Lexington on Friday afternoon just hours after the court ruling. Licenses were issued in at least five counties that Friday, June 26;

Jefferson Jefferson may refer to: Names * Jefferson (surname) * Jefferson (given name) People * Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), third president of the United States * Jefferson (footballer, born 1970), full name Jefferson Tomaz de Souza, Brazilian foo ...

, Fayette,

Kenton Kenton may refer to: Places Canada *Kenton, Manitoba South Africa *Kenton-on-Sea United Kingdom *Kenton, Devon *Kenton, London **Kenton station, Kenton Road, Kenton, London *Kenton, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear *Kenton, Suffolk **Kenton ra ...

, Meade and Hancock counties.

State lawsuits

On April 16, 2015, '' Kentucky Equality Federation v. Beshear'' was ruled on by Franklin County Circuit Court Judge Thomas D. Wingate. Judge Wingate sided with the

Kentucky Equality Federation Kentucky Equality Federation is an umbrella organization for LGBT rights in the United States, gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender civil rights in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, consisting of Federation for Kentucky Equality, Inc., Kentucky Equ ...

against the state. At the request of Governor Steve Beshear's legal representation, Judge Wingate stayed the order pending a ruling from a Kentucky appellate court, such as the Kentucky Court of Appeals or Kentucky's court of last resort, the Kentucky Supreme Court, or the U.S. Supreme Court. Judge Wingate ruled that "Kentucky's statutory and constitutional bans on same-sex marriage revoid and unenforceable for violating Plaintiff and Plaintiff's Members Constitutional Rights".

Responses to ''Obergefell v. Hodges''

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 Kimberly Jean Davis (; born September 17, 1965) is a former county clerk for Rowan County, Kentucky, who gained international attention in August 2015 when she defied a U.S. federal court order to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. ...

, refusing to issue them a marriage license under "God's Authority." The video went viral overnight, and it caused an international outrage against the actions of the county clerk. Davis refused to issue marriage licenses to all couples, opposite-sex or same-sex, in the belief that it would not be considered

discrimination Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of race, gender, age, relig ...

under Kentucky and United States law. In total, six couples, four represented by the

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...

(ACLU), and two couples with separate legal representation, sued Davis in her official capacity as

county clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include record keeping, filing, staffing service ...

. On August 12, 2015, Judge

David Bunning David Louis Bunning (born July 14, 1966) is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. Bunning is the son of former Republican Senator Jim Bunning, a Hall of Fame baseball pitcher who r ...

of the

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky (in case citations, E.D. Ky.) is the Federal district court whose jurisdiction comprises approximately the Eastern half of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The United States Cour ...

ruled in ''

Miller v. Davis ''Miller v. Davis'' is a federal lawsuit in the United States regarding the issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples. After the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide on June 26, 2015, the county clerk of Rowan Count ...

'' that she had to issue the licenses. Bunning stayed his decision until August 31 at Davis' request. On August 26, 2015, a three-judge panel of the Sixth Circuit upheld Judge Bunning's decision and denied Davis' request for an extension of the stay, noting that "she had little to no chance to succeed on appeal on the merits of her case". On August 31, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court denied an emergency application from Davis to extend the stay. On September 1, 2015, the plaintiff couples again attempted to receive marriage licenses, but Davis declined again, in direct defiance of the court's order. The plaintiffs immediately filed a motion to hold Davis in

contempt of court Contempt of court, often referred to simply as "contempt", is the crime of being disobedient to or disrespectful toward a court of law and its officers in the form of behavior that opposes or defies the authority, justice, and dignity of the cour ...

. On September 3, 2015, Judge Bunning jailed Davis, finding that her refusal to issue marriage licenses or allow her deputy clerks to do so, constituted contempt of court. Beginning on September 4, 2015, five of the six deputy clerks in the Rowan County Clerk's Office began issuing marriage licenses to couples, with Davis refusing to authorize such licenses even in jail. After her incarceration, marriage licenses to all couples were issued from the Rowan County Clerk's Office by deputy clerks who were ordered to do so by court order. However, her son, Nathan Davis, a deputy clerk under her immediate supervision, also refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Once Davis was released from jail, she confiscated the marriage license forms and instructed her deputy clerks to only use forms from which her name and any reference to the clerk's office had been removed. In place of the title "county clerk" or "deputy clerk," which in Kentucky statute was required on the form, Davis replaced the title with "notary public". Subsequently, Governor Steve Beshear ordered all county clerks to abide by the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in ''Obergefell''. Governor Beshear was asked by Judge Bunning to brief the court on the validity of the altered licenses. Governor Beshear acknowledged that Kentucky would recognize the licenses being issued in Rowan County, but he could not verify the legality of the licenses issued or the means in which the marriage licenses were altered. In July 2017, a federal court judge ruled that Kentucky must pay legal fees and court costs (nearly $225,000) to the lawyers who represented the couples who were denied marriage licenses. On March 19, 2022, Judge Bunning ruled that Davis knowingly violated the rights of same-sex couples by denying them marriage licenses, "It is readily apparent that ''Obergefell'' recognizes Plaintiffs' Fourteenth Amendment right to marry. It is also readily apparent that Davis made a conscious decision to violate Plaintiffs' right". As of October 2, 2015, three counties in Kentucky were refusing or had not been confirmed to be ready to issue licenses to same-sex couples. Clerks in Whitley and Casey counties claimed that the

First Amendment First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

of the U.S. Constitution or Section Five of the Kentucky Constitution protected their

religious freedom Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freedom ...

to refuse to issue licenses to same-sex couples. Knott County officials refused to state whether they would issue a license to a same-sex couple, but none had applied to do so. The Whitley County clerk claimed technical issues prevented the issuing of licenses, saying licenses would be issued once difficulties were resolved. However, reports regarding Whitley County Clerk Kay Schwartz's appearance at a religious rally outside the

Kentucky State Capitol The Kentucky State Capitol is located in Frankfort and is the house of the three branches (executive, legislative, judicial) of the state government of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic P ...

on August 22, 2015, shed new light on the reason behind the delay. Schwartz claimed that issuing the licenses violated her religious liberty. She participated in the event alongside Rowan County's Kim Davis and Casey County's Casey Davis. The event was organized by the conservative Christian group, The Family Foundation. On April 1, 2016, the

unanimously passed legislation creating a single marriage license form for both same-sex and opposite-sex couples. The bill, which had the support of Governor Matt Bevin and Kim Davis, gives a marriage license applicant the option of checking "bride", "groom" or "spouse" beside their name. The name of the county clerk does not appear on the license. The

passed an initial version of the bill on March 9, 37–0, but the House amended it on March 26, 97–0. Initially, the bill would have created two forms of marriage licenses, one using "bride" and "groom", and the other one using "first party" and "second party". The Senate passed the amended version, which created the single marriage form, on April 1 by a unanimous 36–0 vote. Governor Bevin signed the bill into law on April 13, 2016, and it took effect on July 14. In June 2016, Chris Hartmann, director of the

Fairness Campaign The Fairness Campaign is a Louisville, Kentucky-based lobbying and advocacy organization, focusing primarily on preventing discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The Fairness Campaign is recognized by the IRS as a ...

, said to his knowledge "there are no counties where marriage licenses are being denied to same-sex couples" in the state. On June 22, 2016, when the ''

Washington Blade The ''Washington Blade'' is a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) newspaper in the Washington metropolitan area. The ''Blade'' is the oldest LGBT newspaper in the United States and third largest by circulation, behind the ''Philadelphi ...

'' reach out to Casey Davis' office over the phone, a clerk who works with Davis, replied "yes" when asked if a same-sex couple would be eligible to receive a marriage license in Casey County.

Demographics and marriage statistics

Data from the

2000 U.S. census The United States census of 2000, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2 percent over the 248,709,873 people enumerated during the 1990 cen ...

showed that 7,114 same-sex couples were living in Kentucky. By 2005, this had increased to 9,710 couples, likely attributed to same-sex couples' growing willingness to disclose their partnerships on government surveys. Same-sex couples lived in all counties of the state and constituted 0.8% of coupled households and 0.4% of all households in the state. Most couples lived in

, Fayette and

counties, but the counties with the highest percentage of same-sex couples were

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

(0.97% of all county households) and Lewis (0.81%). Same-sex partners in Kentucky were on average younger than opposite-sex partners, and more likely to be employed. In addition, the average and median household incomes of same-sex couples were higher than different-sex couples, but same-sex couples were far less likely to own a home than opposite-sex partners. 15% of same-sex couples in Kentucky were raising children under the age of 18, with an estimated 2,469 children living in households headed by same-sex couples in 2005.

Public opinion

{, class="wikitable" , +style="font-size:100%" , Public opinion for same-sex marriage in Kentucky , - ! style="width:190px;", Poll source ! style="width:200px;", Date(s)
administered ! class=small , Sample
size ! Margin of
error ! style="width:100px;", % support ! style="width:100px;", % opposition ! style="width:40px;", % no opinion , -
Public Religion Research Institute
, align=center
March 8–November 9, 2021
, align=center, ? , align=center, ? , align=center, 58% , align=center, 42% , align=center, <0.5% , -
Public Religion Research Institute
, align=center
January 7–December 20, 2020
, align=center, 711 random telephone
interviewees , align=center, ? , align=center, ''48%'' , align=center, 46% , align=center, 6% , -
Public Religion Research Institute
, align=center
April 5–December 23, 2017
, align=center, 1,017 random telephone
interviewees , align=center, ? , align=center, 51% , align=center, 42% , align=center, 7% , -
Public Religion Research Institute
, align=center
May 18, 2016–January 10, 2017
, align=center, 1,463 random telephone
interviewees , align=center, ? , align=center, ''49%'' , align=center, 42% , align=center, 9% , -
Public Religion Research Institute
, align=center
April 29, 2015–January 7, 2016
, align=center, 1,289 random telephone
interviewees , align=center, ? , align=center, 45% , align=center, ''47%'' , align=center, 8% , -

, align=center, March 3–8, 2015 , align=center, 1,917 registered voters , align=center, ± 2.3% , align=center, 33% , align=center, 57% , align=center, 10% , -
New York Times/CBS News/YouGov
, align=center, September 20–October 1, 2014 , align=center, 1,689 likely voters , align=center, ± 2.8% , align=center, 38% , align=center, 50% , align=center, 13% , -
Public Policy Polling
, align=center, August 7–10, 2014 , align=center, 991 voters , align=center, ± 3.1% , align=center, 30% , align=center, 61% , align=center, 9% , -
Bluegrass Poll
, align=center, July 18–23, 2014 , align=center, 714 registered voters , align=center, ± 3.7% , align=center, 37% , align=center, 50% , align=center, 12% , -

, align=center, April 8–15, 2014 , align=center, 891 registered voters , align=center, ? , align=center, 38% , align=center, 54% , align=center, 8% , -
Bluegrass Poll
, align=center, January 30–February 4, 2014 , align=center, 1,082 registered voters , align=center, ± 3% , align=center, 35% , align=center, 55% , align=center, 10% , -

, align=center, April 11, 2013 , align=center, ? , align=center, ? , align=center, 27% , align=center, 65% , align=center, 8% , -

References

External links

''Bourke v. Beshear''
United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky: Memorandum order, February 12, 2014 {{Same-sex unions in the United States LGBT in Kentucky

2015 in LGBT history 2015 in Kentucky