If a federal court ruling in favor of gay marriage in Kentucky is upheld following appeals, it could mean slight changes in the way marriage licenses are processed. Discussions are underway about how such a ruling might affect County Clerks across the state.
An official with the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives called the Fayette County Clerk's office Wednesday morning. The state agency is responsible for developing the marriage license application. If same-sex marriage is made legal in Kentucky, Fayette County Clerk Don Blevins says it doesn't appear any major changes would be needed on the form. "The only thing that I'm seeing in a very cursory look is the words literally bride and groom that night need to be considered for a same sex marriage as opposed to a traditional opposite sex marriage," said Blevins.
A federal judge ruled Tuesday Kentucky's ban on same-sex marriage violates the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Still, no marriage licenses for same sex couples will be issued anytime soon. The ruling is on hold until an appeal is heard in federal court next month.
Blevins says the State Department for Libraries and Archives is responsible for creating the marriage application. "It is a primary source of data for the state. It's a vital statistic. It's considered a vital statistic, marriages are. So, there's certain information that applies to each of the two parties like date of birth, place of birth, those sorts of things. But, that really is per person and has nothing to do with the gender of the person," added Blevins.
Blevins expects county clerks to meet with libraries and archives officials to discuss the license issue.
