Kentucky AG will not appeal federal judge order to recognize out-of-state same-sex marriages
Listen to this articleToday, Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway said he won’t appeal an order by a federal judge to respect the marriages of same-sex couples legally performed in other states. Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear said the state will hire outside attorneys to appeal a decision.
U.S. District Judge John G. Heyburn II, who made the ruling, was appointed by President George H. W. Bush in 1992, on the recommendation of current Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
Marc Solomon, national campaign director of Freedom to Marry, released the following statement:
“Today’s decision by Kentucky attorney general Jack Conway echoes that of state attorneys general across America who refuse to defend discrimination. Conway stands on the right side of history along with the Republican-appointed Kentucky federal judge who held that there is no legitimate justification for denying equal protection to same-sex couples. A growing bipartisan majority of Americans know it is wrong to deny anyone the freedom to marry the person they love. With a marriage case potentially making it to the Supreme Court as soon as 2015, we must continue to make the case across the country that all of America is ready for the freedom to marry.”
On Feb. 24, Freedom to Marry launched a new campaign to grow majority support for marriage in the South called Southerners for the Freedom to Marry. Polling shows that support for marriage across the Southern states is evenly divided.
