The attorney general of Kentucky announced on Tuesday that he will not repeal an order to recognize out-of-state gay marriages, the Seattle Post Intelligencer reported.
The recent ruling will be enacted on March 20. Since Attorney General Jack Conway will not repeal the decision, gay couples that married in outside states but live in Kentucky will be able to file joint tax returns, pursue name changes, and add names to birth certificates.
"I would be defending discrimination. That I will not do," Conway said about appealing the ruling at a news conference. "It's about placing people over politics."
However, Gov. Steve Beshear plans on appealing with the help of outside counsel, who claims the issue should "be ultimately decided by the U.S. Supreme Court."
On Friday, a federal judge in Louisville gave the state 21 days to overturn a voter-imposed ban on recognizing gay marriage.
Last month, U.S. District Judge John G. Heyburn issued an opinion declaring Kentucky's ban on same-sex marriage as unconstitutional because it treats "gay and lesbian persons differently in a way that demeans them."
Heyburn's decision resulted from a lawsuit filed by couples who were married in other states within the past 10 years and wanted the state to recognize their marriage. However, his ruling does not mean the state has to issue marriage licenses to gay couples in the state.
As SeattlePi.com noted, the gay marriage case in socially-conservative Kentucky reflects those in Utah and Texas, where the recognition of same-sex marriages have been ruled unconstitutional but have yet to be fully legalized.
