Kentucky: A Big Step Closer to Marriage Equality

U.S. District Judge John G. Heyburn II axed the part of a state constitutional amendment that prevents same-sex marriages from being recognized in Kentucky, if they were valid in other states, according to The Courier-Journal.His ruling in the suit brought by four gay and lesbian couples is now one of ten federal and state court rulings that have invalidating similar bans. Out100 honoree Greg Bourke (who was photographed as part of his accomplishments in trying to overturn the Boy Scouts of America ban on gay scouts and leaders) was one of the defendants for marriage equality, along with his husband Michael De Leon.

Michael De Leon and Greg Bourke photographed by Courier Journal

The ruling, which cited the Supreme Court's Windsor v. United States ruling that gutted the Defense of Marriage Act, read in part: "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."

He did not rule that same-sex weddings must now take place in the state. Support for the antigay law is slowly eroding, according to a poll, from 70 percent in 2004 to 55 percent this year.