CONTACTAbout UsCAREER OPPORTUNITIESADVERTISE WITH USPRIVACY POLICYPRIVACY PREFERENCESTERMS OF USELEGAL NOTICE
© 2025 Pride Publishing Inc.
All Rights reserved
All Rights reserved
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
The Kentucky senate on Tuesday gave its final consent to a proposed constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriages. Now the voters will decide the issue. The senate passed the measure 33-5, placing it on the November ballot. The proposal also would deny legal recognition of civil unions. At least one critic warned that the proposal might face one more obstacle--a possible court challenge. The senate vote culminated weeks of intense debate and political maneuvering that gripped the house, where the measure had stalled until winning passage in a dramatic vote Monday night. Sen. Ernesto Scorsone, Kentucky's only openly gay legislator, said lawmakers had bowed to a "mob mentality." Large crowds mobilized by the Family Foundation, a Lexington-based conservative group, had converged on the capitol in recent weeks to push for the amendment. Kentucky already has a law that prohibits same-sex marriages. Supporters of the proposed amendment insist that writing the prohibition into the state constitution is the only way to safeguard it against any court challenge. Scorsone scoffed at those fears. "The reality is that there is no case in the legal pipeline right now in Kentucky that could possibly upset that statute," said Scorsone (D-Lexington). "Everybody knows it here. There is no crisis or emergency, but yet we're rushing to change the constitution." Proposed constitutional bans on same-sex marriage in other states as well as in Kentucky were spurred by a Massachusetts supreme judicial court ruling in November that barring gay couples from marriage was unconstitutional. Mayors in some cities across the country have permitted unsanctioned same-sex weddings. "We're trying to act proactive rather than reactive," said Sen. Vernie McGaha (R-Russell Springs), lead sponsor of the amendment in Kentucky. "There are trends around the nation, and we'd like to get in front of the trend before it comes to Kentucky." The senate vote was an anticlimactic finale to a drama that had turned the capitol into a cultural battleground. The senate vote came on the final day of the 2004 general assembly's regular session. The measure would define marriage solely as a union between a man and a woman.
From our Sponsors
Most Popular
31 Period Films of Lesbians and Bi Women in Love That Will Take You Back
December 09 2024 1:00 PM
18 of the most batsh*t things N.C. Republican governor candidate Mark Robinson has said
October 30 2024 11:06 AM
True
After 20 years, and after tonight, Obama will no longer be the Democrats' top star
August 20 2024 12:28 PM
Trump ally Laura Loomer goes after Lindsey Graham: ‘We all know you’re gay’
September 13 2024 2:28 PM
These 15 major companies caved to the far right and stopped DEI programs
January 24 2025 1:11 PM
True
Melania Trump cashed six-figure check to speak to gay Republicans at Mar-a-Lago
August 16 2024 5:57 PM
Latest Stories
HRC, Lambda Legal sue to stop Trump's transgender military ban
February 06 2025 8:50 PM
DOGE staffer resigns over uncovered racist posts
February 06 2025 7:18 PM
​'Heightened Scrutiny' is a somber reminder of why we fight for trans rights
February 06 2025 6:31 PM
NCAA caves and says it will obey Trump order banning trans athletes
February 06 2025 4:54 PM
Vision for long-delayed memorial to Pulse victims finally comes into view
February 06 2025 4:34 PM
Publishers and library sue Idaho over book ban that defines 'homosexuality' as 'harmful to minors'
February 06 2025 12:35 PM
Anti-trans Republican Nancy Mace doubles down on dehumanizing transphobic slur during hearing
February 06 2025 10:27 AM