Kentucky must recognize foreign gay ‘marriages’ at once, state AG may not defend law
FRANKFORT, KY , February 27, 2014 – A federal judge refused to grant a stay to his ruling that Kentucky must recognize same-sex “marriages” conducted in other states, or foreign countries. That means the traditional, religious state must treat such unions as bona fide “marriages” at once. U.S. District Judge John G. Heyburn II made the initial ruling on February 12 . On Thursday, he issued a final order striking down parts of a state law and a state constitutional marriage amendment supported by a wide majority of the voters. Judge John G. Heyburn II In 2004, 75 percent of the state's electorate approved a marriage protection amendment. Heyburn ruled that the measures “deny validly married same-sex couples equal recognition and benefits under Kentucky and federal law, those laws violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution , and they are void and unenforceable." A statewide Bluegrass P...
