Courts & Tribunals

On 31 August 2012, the Kentucky Court of Appeals refused to restore sole custody to a mother who claimed that her 5-year-old daughter was transgender and would be raised as a boy, affirming joint custody and the biological father as primary custodial parent [C1.2], [R1.1].

State

In March 2008, a Kentucky senate bill that would have barred state agencies and schools from providing health insurance for the domestic partners of employees was killed by a committee in the state house of representatives [R1.1].

Cities & Towns

Under changes made by Lexington Mayor Teresa Isaac in the city's health care plan, domestic partners of city employees will receive health insurance coverage starting July 1 [R2.1].

To receive the benefits, employees and their partners must sign a declaration that says they have lived together and been in the relationship for six months; they are at least 18 years old; they plan to live together indefinitely; and they "are engaged in a committed relationship of mutual caring and support" [R2.1].

They must also show examples of interdependence, such as joint bank accounts or common ownership of a motor vehicle or property [R2.1].

In a 11-4 vote, the council took the first step in placing a moratorium until October on the domestic partner benefits [R2.2].

No other known municipalities make domestic partner benefits available to same-sex couples.

Schools & Colleges

On 02 April 2010, Western Kentucky University approved a measure to recognize domestic partners of faculty and staff and offer them health insurance starting in 2011, joining University of Louisville, the University of Kentucky, and Northern Kentucky University in offering such benefits [R3.1].

State

On 26 March 2013, the House of Representatives and the Senate voted overwhelmingly to override Governor Beshear's veto, meaning House Bill 279 will pass into law, requiring state infringements on a person’s religious belief to be justified by “compelling” interest for the law, rather than “reasonable” interest, assessed on a case-by-case basis [R1.3].

On 22 March 2013, Governor Steve Beshear vetoed House Bill 279, which proposed to give legal protection from prosecution to those who “act or refuse to act in a manner motivated by a sincerely held religious belief”. On 01 March 2013, the House passed the Bill 82–7, with 11 abstentions and it was due to go to the Senate [R1.2].

On 20 May 2003, Gov. Paul Patton signed an executive order prohibiting discrimination against state employees on the basis of their gender identity or sexual orientation, covering 30,000 employees of the governor's executive cabinet agencies [R1.1].

In February 2000, the House of Representatives passed a bill allowing churches to refuse to rent their facilities to gays and lesbians, atheists and others who violate their religious beliefs [R1.2].

County

In October 1999, Jefferson County made employment, housing and public accommodations discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity unlawful [R2.1].

Cities & Towns

On 14 January 2013, the city commission of Vicco enacted a gay-rights ordinance that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity [R3.6].

In April 2003, Covington city commissioners unanimously voted to expand the city's human rights ordinance to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. The measure applies to employment, housing and public accommodations, such as restaurants [R3.5] and hotels.

In 1999-2000, the City of Louisville made employment, housing and public accommodations discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity unlawful [R2.1].

On 26 January 1999, the Louisville Board of Aldermen adopted an ordinance that bans workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation [R3.4].

In July 1999, Lexington council passed 12–3 an ordinance banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation [R3.3].

In March 2001, the Henderson city council voted 3–2 to repeal an ordinance banning bias based on sexual orientation in employment and public accommodations [R3.2].

In September 1999, with a three-to-two vote in favor of a controversial gay-rights ordinance, Henderson became the third Kentucky city to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation [R3.1].

Courts & Tribunals

On 08 June 2001, the Kentucky Court of Appeals held that Jefferson County's broader gay-rights law, which protects against bias in the workplace, housing and public accommodations overrides the more limited City of Louisville ordinance against employment discrimination as well as other similar city ordinances in Jefferson county [R4.3].

On 22 March 2001, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals dismissed a Louisville gynecologist's lawsuit that challenged the ordinances in Louisville and Jefferson County prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation, which means that the two ordinances, which are identical, will be in place when merger takes effect [R4.2].

Previously:

On 10 March 2000, a circuit court judge ruled that Louisville and 90 other municipalities in Jefferson County are excluded from the broad gay rights law that the county's fiscal court enacted last October barring discrimination against gays in employment, housing and public accommodations [R4.1].

Courts & Tribunals

On 24 July 2012, Judge Alan Stout in the US District Court for Western Kentucky granted gay couple Bob Joles and Joey Lester, who married in New York in May, the right to file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy together [R1.1].

State

Kentucky has banned gender-identity discrimination in the executive branch of state government through an executive order [R1.1].

State

In 1998, hate crimes based on sexual orientation were made an aggravating circumstance [R1.1].

Courts & Tribunals

On 24 October 2012, jurors acquitted cousins Anthony Ray Jenkins and David Jason Jenkins of hate-crime charges while finding them guilty of kidnapping in a 2011 attack on 29-year-old Kevin Pennington [R2.3].

On 15 October 2012, in a national first, US District Judge Gregory F. Van Tatenhove upheld the Federal hate-crimes law dealing with sexual orientation, sending David Jason Jenkins (37) and his cousin, Anthony Ray Jenkins (22) to trial for allegedly beating Kevin Pennington (29), a gay Letcher County man in April 2011 because of his sexual orientation [C2.2], [R2.1].

State

State law requires that a patient's HIV infection be kept confidential - with very few exceptions that do not include employers [R1.1].

State

The Kentucky Revised Statutes Chapter 510.00 provides:

510.100 Sodomy in the fourth degree.

(1) A person is guilty of sodomy in the fourth degree when he engages in deviate sexual intercourse with another person of the same sex [L1.1].

Courts &' Tribunals

On 26 June 2003, the US Supreme Court ruled in Lawrence & Garner -v- Texas that a similar law in Texas making sodomy unlawful was an unconstitutional violation of privacy and this judgment is thought to nullify or invalidate the Kentucky law [C2.2], [R2.1].

State

Kentucky law prohibits same-sex marriage and does not recognise lawful out of state marriages.

In 1973, more than two decades ago, a Kentucky court in Jones v. Hallahan, 501 S.W.2d 588 (Ky. 1973), summarily rejected constitutional challenges based on the right to marry, the right of association, and the right to the free exercise of religion [R1.1].

In April 2004, the Senate voted 33-5 giving final approval yesterday to a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, following an 85-11 vote by the House late 12 April 2004 and putting the issue on the November ballot for voters to decide [R1.2].

A three-fifths vote in each chamber was required, and the amendment bypasses the governor and goes directly to the ballot [R1.2].

It will be the only constitutional amendment to be decided by voters in November 2004 [R1.2].

State:

In February 2009, Republican Senator Gary Tapp introduced a bill that would prohibit adoption or foster care by an applicant 'cohabiting with a sexual partner outside of a marriage that is legally valid in Kentucky' [R1.1].

Courts & Tribunals

In September 2008, a strongly worded opinion from the Kentucky court of appeals barred judges from granting same-sex partners the right to adopt children as stepparents [R2.1].

Courts & Tribunals

In September 1998, a jury has awarded a 17-year-old girl US$220,000 for the repeated harassment she suffered at the hands of some of her classmates - and because Spencer County school officials failed to do enough to try to stop it [R1.1].

In November 2000, a federal appeals court has upheld the verdict [R1.2].