A gay couple married in Canada filed a federal lawsuit Friday
asking that their 2004 marriage be recognized by the state of
Kentucky.
Plaintiffs Gregory Bourke and Michael Deleon from Louisville name
Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear, Attorney General Jack Conway and
Jefferson County Clerk Bobbie Holsclaw as defendants in filing their
lawsuit.
The couple seeks a permanent injunction ordering Kentucky
officials to recognize the out-of-state legal marriages of gay and
lesbian couples, The
Courier-Journal first reported.
Bourke is an applications consultant, while Deleon is a database
administrator. Both are 55.
“Like opposite-sex couples, same-sex couples build their lives
together, plan their futures together and hope to grow old together,”
the lawsuit states in part.
The lawsuit is part of a rash of legal filings filed in multiple
states soon after the Supreme Court eviscerated the heart of the
Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in June. The high court's majority
ruled unconstitutional DOMA's provision prohibiting federal agencies
from recognizing the legal marriages of gay couples. Its decision
also chided lawmakers for legalizing discrimination.
In most, if not all, of the cases filed in its wake, plaintiffs
are drawing on the decision to support their claims.
In one such case, a federal judge ordered Ohio officials to
recognize the Maryland marriage of a gay couple. Ohio
Attorney General Mike DeWine has vowed to defend the state's marriage
law.
Kentucky voters in 2004 approved a constitutional amendment
limiting marriage to heterosexual couples.
(Related: Gay
couple challenges Virginia's gay marriage ban.)