LOUISVILLE, Ky., Feb. 27 (UPI) -- A federal judge issued a final ruling Thursday saying Kentucky must recognize same-sex marriages performed in states where it is legal.
U.S. District Judge John G. Heyburn, in a one-page order, said state laws violate the right to equal protection under the U.S. Constitution.
"Those laws ... are void and unenforceable," Heyburn said, the (Louisville) Courier-Journal reported.
Kentucky's attorney general earlier asked the judge to delay the final ruling. Attorney General Jack Conway, a Democrat, asked for a 90-day delay, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported Thursday.
But Heyburn did not immediately address that request, the Courier-Journal said.
State officials told the judge they would decide soon on whether to appeal.
Heyburn issued a preliminary order Feb. 12 striking down some parts of a 1998 state law and a 2004 state constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman. The laws banned the recognition of same-sex marriages from states where they are legal.
The judge cited the equal protection guarantee of the U.S. Constitution.
Earlier this week, a federal judge in Texas found the state's ban on same-sex marriages and its refusal to recognize such out-of-state marriages unconstitutional.
However, the bans will remain in place because U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia in San Antonio also issued a stay pending appeal, the San Antonio Express-News reported.
Meanwhile, three same-sex couples have asked a U.S. appeals court to uphold a judge's ruling that a same-sex marriage ban in Utah's state Constitution violates the U.S. Constitution.
