Same-sex Marriage In Kentucky

Same-sex marriage in Kentucky has been legal 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 February 12, 2014, Judge John G. Heyburn II 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 licenses to same-sex couples violated the U.S. Constitution, 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 marriage license in Louisville based on dictionary definitions of marriage, despite the fact that state statutes 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 in ''Baehr v. Miike'' in 1993, members of the Kentucky General Assembly began pressing for the passage of a bill banning same-sex marriage. Such a bill was introduced in the 1998 legislative session. It passed the Kentucky House of Representatives on March 11 by a vote of 84–9, and the Kentucky Senate 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 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 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 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 Steve Beshear 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 John G. Heyburn II.

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. His final order, issued on February 27, 2014, made recognition of out-of-state same-sex marriages ''de jure'' legal; being a final order it was then immediately subject to appeal. 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 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, Ohio, and Tennessee.

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

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