Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway refused to defend the state's marriage ban.
The federal judge who
in February ruled that Kentucky must recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states has now
ruled in favor of full marriage equality in Kentucky:
"In America, even sincere and long-hold religious beliefs do not trump the constitutional rights of those who happen to have been out-voted," U.S. District Judge John G. Heyburn II wrote to invalidate Kentucky's constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. [...]
Heyburn upheld the right to marry today, but put his ruling on hold pending a decision by a higher court. Heyburn rejected the only justification offered by lawyers for Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear — that traditional marriages contribute to a stable birth rate and the state's long-term economic stability.
"These arguments are not those of serious people," he said.
Not the arguments of serious people! That's true, and it's going to leave a mark. Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway had
refused to appeal Heyburn's original decision on recognition of marriages, by the way.
With the ruling on hold, we won't be seeing pictures of happy couples in the courthouse immediately as we have in so many other states in recent months. But it's an important step in another of the states that would likely take a long, long time to build enough support for equality to overturn its 2004 anti-equality constitutional amendment.