February, 12 2014, 12:13pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Angela Dallara
Media Relations Manager, Freedom to Marry
angela@freedomtomarry.org
646-430-3925
Bush-Appointed Federal Judge Rules Kentucky to Respect Married Same-Sex Couples
NEW YORK
Today a federal judge ruled that Kentucky must respect marriages of same-sex couples legally performed in other states. U.S. District Judge John G. Heyburn II was appointed by President George H. W. Bush in 1992, on the recommendation of current Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Evan Wolfson, founder and president of Freedom to Marry, released the following statement:
"Today a Republican-appointed federal judge in Kentucky held - as did judges in Utah and Oklahoma weeks ago and as did the U.S. Supreme Court last year - that there is simply no legitimate justification for denying equal protection to same-sex couples, echoing the majority of Americans who support the freedom to marry, including a growing number of conservatives. It is wrong for the government to deny same-sex couples the freedom to marry the person they love; a freedom that is part of every American's liberty and pursuit of happiness. With one of the many cases across the country potentially making it to the Supreme Court as soon as 2015, we must continue to make the case across the country that America -- all of America -- is ready for the freedom to marry."
Freedom to Marry is the gay and non-gay partnership working to win marriage equality nationwide. Headed by Evan Wolfson, one of America's leading civil rights advocates and lawyers, Freedom to Marry brings new resources and a renewed context of urgency and opportunity to this social justice movement.
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