Kentucky House votes to use single form for marriage licenses
Source: Reuters
World | Fri Mar 25, 2016 4:49pm EDT
Kentucky House votes to use single form for marriage licenses
BY ALEX DOBUZINSKIS
Kentucky's House of Representatives on Friday approved a bill to create a single marriage license form for opposite-sex and same-sex couples that would allow applicants to identify as "bride," "groom" or "spouse."
The legislation stems from a debate over marriage rights and religious liberty that gained national prominence last year in a dispute involving Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis. Citing her Christian faith, Davis defied a court order to issue licenses to same-sex couples and was jailed for five days.
Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin, a Republican, has expressed support for the single-marriage form bill, which was approved without debate by the Democratic-controlled House.
The bill, which will be sent to the Republican-controlled Senate, is seen as a possible resolution to the contentious question of how marriage licenses in Kentucky should read, after the U.S. Supreme Court in June 2015 ruled same-sex couples have a constitutional right to wed.
[font size=1]
-snip-[/font]
Read more:
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-kentucky-marriage-legislation-idUSKCN0WR1H7