A federal judge in Kentucky has struck down Kentucky's ban on same-sex marriage, ruling that the state must recognize gay marriages performed elsewhere. Heyburn did not say that Kentucky must allow same-sex marriages, however, the Courier-Journal reports:
U.S. District Judge John G. Heyburn II joined nine other federal and state courts in invalidating such bans.
Ruling in a suit brought by four gay and lesbian couples, Heyburn said that while “religious beliefs … are vital to the fabric of society … assigning a religious or traditional rationale for a law does not make it constitutional when that law discriminates against a class of people without other reasons.” …
…Citing the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling throwing out the Defense of Marriage Act, Heyburn struck down the portion of Kentucky's 2004 constitutional amendment that said “only a marriage between one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in Kentucky.”
Heyburn did not rule that Kentucky must allow gay marriages to be performed in the state.
In a 23-page ruling, Heyburn said Kentucky's sole justification for the the amendment was that was it was “rationally related to the legitimate government interest of preserving the state's institution of traditional marriage.”
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