U.S. District Judge John G. Heyburn in Louisville issued a ruling today declaring Kentucky’s laws against gay marriage are unconstitutional based the Equal Protection Clause in the Constitution. The ruling has been put on hold so it’s not clear when gays in Kentucky will be issued licenses to marry.
“Sometimes, by upholding equal rights for a few, courts necessarily must require others to forebear some prior conduct or restrain some personal instinct,” Heyburn wrote. “Here, that would not seem to be the case. Assuring equal protection for same-sex couples does not diminish the freedom of others to any degree.”
Heyburn also said every federal court has ruled that a ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional. On August 6, 2014 the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals will hear cases on gay marriage in Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear has announced the state will appeal the decision by Judge Heyburn.
Will Virginia be next in abolishing our gay marriage law? Will one Virginia Judge abolish the amendment supported by 77% of Virginians?
9 comments
This is a very uninformed post. The Bull Elephant needs to do better.
Not only does this post use inflated numbers on support for the gay marriage ban, as Stephen Spiker has pointed out below, but it mangles the legal side of things, apparently ignorant of either the status of a well-publicized case or the effect of that case. In Bostic v. Rainey, a federal district judge already struck down Virginia’s gay marriage ban as unconstitutional. That ruling has been appealed, and the briefs and argument in the appeal have already been completed. A decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit (likely 2-1 affirming the ruling below, is my guess) should come soon. Unless revived on appeal, Virginia’s gay marriage ban is already “abolished.” A state court ruling would be completely superfluous.
Jeanine, what does that 77% figure refer to? Marshall Newman passed with 57% of the vote, and that was 8 years ago. Every recent poll I’ve seen in Virginia shows a majority or near-majority support same-sex marriage, including a fair number of Republicans.
Perhaps you could share those polls with us. Thanks!
Sure thing! http://lmgtfy.com/?q=virginia+gay+marriage+poll
http://www.quinnipiac.edu/news-and-events/quinnipiac-university-poll/virginia/release-detail?ReleaseID=2026
http://roanoke.edu/News_and_Events/News_Archive/RC_Poll_March_2014.htm
http://www.wtop.com/41/3483313/Poll-Va-voters-support-gay-marriage
http://www.quinnipiac.edu/news-and-events/quinnipiac-university-poll/virginia/release-detail?ReleaseID=1924
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/decision2012/poll-support-grows-for-same-sex-marriage-in-florida-ohio-and-virginia/2012/10/09/969bea0e-1220-11e2-be82-c3411b7680a9_story.html
http://articles.dailypress.com/2014-02-14/news/dp-nws-gay-marriage-poll-0215-20140214_1_virginians-state-ban-47-percent
Feel free to find a poll from the past three years that shows a different result.
oh Stephen…someone like Juh-neen can’t be bothered with crap and stuff like…oh…I dunno…facts and accuracy….now Stephen you just run along and let Juh-Neen, Radtke and Albertson run your party into the ground….popcorn’s in the popper.
The rights of gays to form legal unions is a fait accompli. While many oppose these unions on religious or cultural grounds, there is a point at which we must accept what is.
yep
i thought the 4th Circuit had the Va ban? no?
It was argued in front of the 4th in May. Ruling has yet to come back as far as I can tell.