In a July 3rd ruling, Judge John G. Heyburn struck down Kentucky’s ban on same-sex marriage.
The news came with the announcement last week that Highland Baptist Church in Kentucky plans to marry David Bannister and Steven Carr in May 2015.
Although Heyburn ruled that “long-held religious beliefs do not trump the constitutional rights of those who happen to have been out-voted,” he stayed the ruling until the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decides same-sex marriage cases from Kentucky and three other states, including the June 25 striking down of Indiana’s same-sex marriage ban and the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling in Utah which ruled broadly in favor of marriage equality.
Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear has hired an out-of-state law firm to handle the appeal after Attorney General Jack Conway declined to appeal the ruling. According to USA Today, Beshear’s arguments are “not those of serious people.”
Beshear’s lawyers will make their arguments to reverse Heyburn’s ruling on August 6.
Read Ari Ezra Waldman’s review of Heyburn’s ruling and watch lead plaintiff Timothy Love discuss the case, AFTER THE JUMP…
