ACLU of Kentucky

 After recent legislative sessions targeting and attacking lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Kentuckians through anti-Fairness laws, the 2010 Kentucky legislature saw unprecedented progress for Fairness in the commonwealth.  

No Anti-Fairness Legislation Filed

For the first time in years, no legislator in the Kentucky Senate or House filed legislation targeting the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Kentuckians. Just last year, Shelbyville Senator Gary Tapp introduced Senate Bill 68, which would have barred any unmarried cohabitating couples from fostering or adopting children in the commonwealth. Fairness advocates rallied to quickly defeat that legislation with strong support from foster and adoption agencies, social workers, and faith-based groups across the state.

Last week similar legislation in Arkansas was struck down as unconstitutional. The Judge in the case reiterated the main point the Kentucky Statewide Fairness Coalition and its supporters made in the spring of 2009, that such legislation does not “serve the State’s interest in determining what is in the best interest of the child.”

Pro-Adoption Bill Heard in House

In response to last year’s failed anti-adoption measure, Rep. Tom Burch of Louisville this year introduced dual parent adoption House Bill 195, which would allow unmarried partners the legal ability to become parents of the children for whom they care.

Family court attorney and gay adoptive father Bryan Gatewood offered expert testimony to the House Health and Welfare Committee on the need for such a law in a March 11 hearing on the bill. He cited the loss of children’s rights to receive many of the benefits legally adopted children enjoy, such as the right to Social Security benefits upon the death of a parent, the right to be covered by both parents’ insurance, the right to receive child support and more. Toni Joyce, Executive Director of the National Association of Social Workers, reinforced Mr. Gatewood’s testimony with a personal plea for the children who this type of legal disenfranchisement affects, and both then fielded positive questions from legislators.

Mr. Gatewood and Ms. Joyce both requested Committee Chair Burch hold additional informational hearings during the interim committee meetings of the summer.

Record Number of Cosponsors on Statewide Fairness Bill

A record number of legislators signed on to Rep. Mary Lou Marzian’s statewide anti-discrimination Fairness House Bill 117, this year adding Rep. Arnold Simpson of Covington. Sen. Kathy Stein once more proposed a companion piece of legislation, Senate Bill 138.  

The law would amend the Kentucky Civil Rights Act to include sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classifications, prohibiting discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations in the commonwealth, a move unanimously endorsed by the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights in a 2008 Resolution sent to the Governor. It would make Kentucky the 21st state to extend such protections, and the first in the South. Currently only Covington, Lexington and Louisville have legal protections in Kentucky.

Hospital Visitation Rights Measure Passes House Unanimously

For the second year, Rep. Mary Lou Marzian’s hospital visitation rights House Bill 118, passed out of the Health and Welfare Committee with bi-partisan support. This session, the bill was approved unanimously on the House floor with a 99-0 vote.

The law would “allow a patient of a health facility who is 18 years of age or older to designate, in writing, an individual not legally related by marriage or blood, who the patient wishes to have visitation rights.” It is identical to the protections President Barack Obama called on the US Department of Health and Human Services to enact in an executive memorandum last Thursday, April 15.

Sponsors and cosponsors of 2010 Fairness legislation in Kentucky: Sen. Denise Harper Angel, Sen. Gerald Neal, Sen. Tim Shaughnessy, Sen. Kathy Stein, Rep. Tom Burch, Rep. Kelly Flood, Rep. Joni Jenkins, Rep. Mary Lou Marzian, Rep. Reggie Meeks, Rep. Darryl Owens, Rep. Ruth Ann Palumbo, Rep. Arnold Simpson, Rep. Jim Wayne and Rep. Susan Westrom.  

KY Statewide Fairness Coalition

ACLU of Kentucky, Fairness Campaign, Kentucky Commission on Human Rights

Kentucky Fairness Alliance, Lexington Fairness