Kentucky

STATUS: Anti-relationship recognition constitutional amendment

TAKE ACTION: State advocacy groups are working toward fairness for all of Kentucky's families by overturning a constitutional amendment that prohibits relationship recognition for same-sex couples in the state.

HISTORY: In 2004, anti-gay forces in Kentucky pushed through Amendment 1, a constitutional amendment that excludes same-sex couples from marriage and prohibits same-sex couples from attaining any other form of legal family status.

GROUPS ACTIVELY WORKING ON MARRIAGE:

Kentucky Fairness Alliance is Kentucky's central statewide lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights and advocacy organization.
Freedom to Marry is the campaign to win marriage for same-sex couples nationwide.
Human Rights Campaign is the United States' largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) equality.

POLLING DATA: Support for the freedom to marry has increased dramatically in the past 8 years, with 33% of the population now supporting marriage. In 2004, just 21% were supportive. (Williams Institute, 2012)

NUMBER OF SAME-SEX COUPLES: According to The Williams Institute's analysis of the 2010 U.S. Census, 7,195 same-sex couples are living in Kentucky, representing 4.2 same-sex couples per 1,000 households.

Blog Posts Related to Kentucky

How red and purple states are growing in support for the freedom to marry

Last week, the Democratic Party in Kentucky's largest county approved a resolution to encourage the state's delegates to the national convention to support the addition of a "freedom to marry" plank in the official Democratic party platform. It's the latest move in the recent surge of traditionally conservative states growing their support for the freedom to marry.

Retired minister: Who’s to say who can marry whom?

Milt Hankins, a retired minister from Ashland, KY says, "Gays have the right to love whomever they fall in love with. They have the right to spend their lives with the person they love. They should absolutely have the same civil rights afforded everyone else."

Nuns blast bishops for their opposition to the freedom to marry

An organization of American Catholic nuns has denounced the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops for reiterating its opposition to legalizing marriage for same-sex couples at its annual meeting in Baltimore this week while remaining silent on anti-gay bullying and gay teen suicide.

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