A Louisville couple has filed a challenge to Kentucky's ban on same-sex marriages and has asked a federal judge to require the state to recognize valid unions from other states and countries.
Gregory Bourke and Michael Deleon filed suit Friday morning in U.S. District Court in Louisville.
The men are seeking an injunction to stop state and local officials from enforcing the ban written into the Kentucky constitution in 2004. The suit is the first such challenge in Kentucky since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the federal Defense of Marriage Act, a federal law blocking married same-sex couples from receiving the same benefits as heterosexual spouses.
Same-sex couples in New Mexico and Arkansas have filed legal challenges to state laws in recent weeks.
Kentucky Couple Challenges Ban On Same-Sex Marriage
Jonathunder, Wikimedia Commons