Marriages now recognized, if not performed, in Kentucky.
The federal district judge who earlier in the month
overturned part of Kentucky's same-sex marriage ban, ruling that the state must recognize legal marriages performed in other states, has issued a
final order in the case:
U.S. District Judge John G. Heyburn today made final a ruling issued earlier this month in which he found that Kentucky’s marriage amendment and statutes violate of the right to equal protection under the law.
“Those laws ... are void and unenforceable,” he said in a one page order.
Earlier today, Attorney General Jack Conway’s office asked Heyburn to stay enforcement of his ruling but for now it will go into effect.
Conway's request for time to consider whether to appeal suggests it's possible the state may not appeal the ruling. The judge has also agreed to allow a new group of plaintiffs to
challenge the ban on same-sex marriages being performed in Kentucky, but refused to grant a preliminary injunction allowing them to marry immediately.