Same-sex Lexington couple reacts to marriage ruling

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples have the right to marry everywhere in the United States.

It was already legal in 37 states.  This means it can now take place in the remaining 13, including Kentucky.

The vote was five to four with Justice Anthony Kennedy, a Republican appointee, joining the four Democratic appointees.

The Fayette County Clerk says his office issued around 20 marriage licenses Friday afternoon.  He says at least two couples went straight to a judge to become married.

For other couples, who were married in states where same-sex marriage was already legal, they’re now recognized in Kentucky.

Watch the video to see their reaction to the high court’s ruling.

Governor Steve Beshear released the following statement:

“The fractured laws across the country concerning same-sex marriage had created an unsustainable and unbalanced legal environment, wherein citizens were treated differently depending on the state in which they resided.  That situation was unfair, no matter which side of the debate you may support.

Kentuckians, and indeed all Americans, deserved a final determination of what the law in this country would be, and that is the reason we pursued an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.  Today’s opinion finally provides that clarity.

All Cabinets of the executive branch have been directed to immediately alter any policies necessary to implement the decision from the Supreme Court.  

Effective today, Kentucky will recognize as valid all same-sex marriages performed in other states and in Kentucky. I have instructed the Kentucky Department of Libraries and Archives to provide revised marriage license forms to our county clerks for immediate use, beginning today.  We will report additional expected policy changes in the coming days.”

The conservative group, The Family Foundation, released the following statement:

"This is the Supreme Court gone rogue from the Constitution," said a spokesman for The Family Foundation, the advocacy group that pushed the passage of Kentucky’s Marriage Protection Amendment in 2004, in response to the High Court’s action overturning the law today. 

"Not only does the 14th amendment say nothing about same-sex marriage, but no one seriously believes the 14th Amendment prohibits states from defining marriage as between a man and a woman," said Martin Cothran, senior policy analyst for the group, "not the people who wrote it, nor the people who ratified it, nor the judges who today have rewritten it to make it mean what they want it to mean."

The group also charged that the decision was an abuse of power on the part of the Court. "This has nothing to do with interpreting the Constitution; this has everything to do with an elite caste of judges who think they have the power to rewrite it."

"Judges are supposed to be impartial legal referees. But if all of a sudden you see the refs shooting three point shots for the other team, you know things have gone wrong."

The decision helps create an uneven playing field on cultural issues, said Cothran. "When conservatives want to change the Constitution, they have to follow the democratic process; but when liberals want to change the Constitution, all they have to do is find sympathetic judges to do it by abusing their power. In the name of ‘fairness’, liberals have politicized the judiciary and created an uneven playing field."

"Social conservatives can see this as their Waterloo or as a ‘Remember the Alamo’ moment," said Cothran in regard to the decision. “When the abortion laws of all 50 states were invalidated by the Supreme Court in the 1972 Roe v. Wade decision, it was the beginning, not the end, of the pro-life movement. Ever since then, it has been a rallying cry for the unborn. This decision could very well become the same thing for traditional marriage."