Kentucky Constitutional Amendment 12004 Election Night Tally Results
, Kentucky State Board of Elections. Accessed 18 December 2006. of 2004, is an amendment to the

Kentucky Constitution The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Kentucky is the document that governs the Kentucky, Commonwealth of Kentucky. It was first adopted in 1792 and has since been rewritten three times and amended many more. The later versions were adopted in 179 ...

that made it unconstitutional for the state to recognize or perform

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

s or

civil union A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage ...

s. The referendum was approved by 75% of the voters.CNN.com Election 2004 - Ballot Measures
Accessed 30 November 2006. The text of the amendment states: ''Only a marriage between one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in Kentucky. A legal status identical or substantially similar to that of marriage for unmarried individuals shall not be valid or recognized.''
, Kentucky Legislature. Accessed 18 December 2006.

Legal Challenges

On September 10, 2013, the Kentucky Equality Federation sued the

Commonwealth of Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

in Franklin Circuit Court claiming Kentucky's 2004 Constitutional Amendment banning

violated sections of the commonwealth's constitution. Case # 13-CI-1074 was assigned by the Franklin County Court Clerk (the location of the

Kentucky State Capitol The Kentucky State Capitol is located in Frankfort and is the house of the three branches (executive, legislative, judicial) of the state government of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic P ...

). The lawsuit was conceived by President

Jordan Palmer Jordan William Palmer (born May 30, 1984) is a former American football quarterback and the current director of quarterback development for the XFL. He was selected by the Washington Redskins in the sixth round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He played ...

, written and signed by Vice President of Legal Jillian Hall, Esq. On April 16, 2015, the case was decided in favor of the plaintiff by Franklin County Circuit Court Judge Thomas D. Wingate. This provision also became void in 2015 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in ''

Obergefell v. Hodges ''Obergefell v. Hodges'', ( ), is a landmark LGBT rights case in which the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples by both the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protect ...

'' that the

fundamental right Fundamental rights are a group of rights that have been recognized by a high degree of protection from encroachment. These rights are specifically identified in a constitution, or have been found under due process of law. The United Nations' Sustai ...

marry Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

is guaranteed to

same-sex couples A same-sex relationship is a romantic or sexual relationship between people of the same sex. ''Same-sex marriage'' refers to the institutionalized recognition of such relationships in the form of a marriage; civil unions may exist in countries ...

by both the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Results

References

External links

The Money Behind the 2004 Marriage Amendments -- National Institute on Money in State Politics
U.S. state constitutional amendments banning same-sex unions 2004 in American law 2004 in LGBT history LGBT in Kentucky Same-sex marriage ballot measures in the United States 2004 Kentucky elections 2004 ballot measures Kentucky ballot measures {{Kentucky-election-stub

Legal Challenges

Results

See also

References

External links