ACLU of KY Statement on the Historic Ruling
Take time to celebrate, but there is still work to do here in the Commonwealth
This is truly an historic victory and a momentous day for Edie Windsor and for loving, married same-sex couples and their families. With today’s ruling the Supreme Court strikes down the core of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) recognizing that it is discriminatory for our federal government to treat legally married gay couples any differently than it treats legally married heterosexual couples.
This is a tremendous step forward. There are more than 1,100 places in federal laws and programs where being married makes a difference from eligibility for family medical leave, to social security survivor’s benefits, to access to health care for a spouse. Today’s decision will make a huge difference in the lives of thousands of legally married gay couples. Married same-sex couples should now be eligible for these benefits and protections.
While DOMA was the last federal law on the books that mandates discrimination against gay people by the federal government simply because they are gay, LGBT Kentuckians are still subject to the restrictive Constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage in the Commonwealth. They are also left vulnerable because of the lack of statewide, anti-discrimination Fairness protections. Louisville, Lexington, Covington and Vicco, Kentucky, have all enacted city-level Fairness ordinances, and there are grassroots efforts for LGBT civil rights across Kentucky, including those in Frankfort, Berea, Bowling Green, Elizabethtown, Morehead, Shelbyville and more. In fact, 83% of registered Kentucky voters agree that gay and transgender people should be protected from discrimination in the workplace, in housing, and in restaurants or other forms of public accommodations.
“Today is a great day for equality and the beginning of the end of official discrimination against LGBT people,” said ACLU of KY Executive Director Michael Aldridge. “It is time for our state laws to follow suit so that all Kentuckians have equal protection,” added Aldridge.
Frequently Asked Question: Can you explain how the decision striking down DOMA will affect legally married same-sex couples who now live here in Kentucky where there marriage is not recognized?
Answer:
All married couples, including same-sex couples, should be treated as married by the federal government no matter where they live.
Same-sex couples who are married and living in one of the 13 freedom to marry states, or the District of Columbia, will clearly be eligible for the federal protections and responsibilities afforded all other married couples.
However, for those legally married same-sex couples who have moved to – or now live in – a state that discriminates against their marriages, access to those federal marital protections will take some work and time to achieve.
Under current law, the federal government typically defers to the states in determining whether a couple’s marriage is valid. There is no one rule across all federal programs as to whether the validity of a marriage is determined by where the couple got married (“place of celebration”) or where the couple is living (“place of domicile” or “place of residence”).
For same-sex couples the “choice of law” standard can make all the difference between respect for their marriage – and the federal protections that flow from it – and no protection whatsoever.
