Kentucky just passed sensible legislation for equal marriage licences
Kentucky has passed a sensible piece of legislation which means there is only one kind of marriage licence – for all sexual orientations.
The bill, which passed the Senate on Friday would allow marriage applicants to identify simply as “spouses”, “grooms” or “brides”.
It was passed to settle a debate over whether same-sex couples should have the same type of marriage licence to opposite-sex couples.
The debate stemmed from jailbird County Clerk Kim Davis, who refused to issue marriage licences to gays. She was jailed for five days last year over the issue.
The bill has now passed in the House and Senate and will go to Governor Matt Bevin’s desk to be signed.
Governor Bevin, a Republican, has expressed support for the bill, to allow single-marriage forms.
The bill offers a solution to what should be displayed on marriage licences.
The debate started after the US Supreme Court voted to legalise same-sex marriage in all 50 states.
A Republican-backed law was passed in the state Senate earlier this year which would create separate license forms for gay and straight couples.
The bill strips the titles “bride/groom” from the licenses for same-sex couples – banning them from being ‘groom and groom’ or ‘bride and bride’, and instead simply stating “first party” and “second party”. Licenses issued for heterosexual couples would maintain their ‘traditional’ wording.
However, according to Kentucky Senator Morgan McGarvey, controversial Clerk Kim Davis passionately spoke at a clerk’s meeting on the issue – against the segregation.
