KENTUCKY: Governor's Brief Says Gay Marriage Will Cause Birth Rates To Drop

Attorneys for Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear have filed a brief which claims that same-sex marriage must remain illegal otherwise straight people will have fewer babies. And that will cost Kentucky lots of money.

Appealing a federal judge's decision that the state's ban violates the constitutional guarantee of equal protection under the law, Beshear's hired counsel say Kentucky has a legitimate interest in encouraging procreation to support "long-term economic stability through stable birth rates." U.S. District Judge John G. Heyburn II in February struck down Kentucky's law and constitutional amendment banning the recognition of same-sex marriages performed in other states, saying Kentucky had offered no rational basis for treating gay and lesbian couple's differently. In a 32-page appeal, attorney Leigh Gross Latherow says Kentucky has an interest in maintaining birth rates, which, if allowed to fall, can induce economic crises because of the reduced demand for good and services and the reduction of the work force. She cited recent dips in the economies of Germany and Japan tied to declines in their birth rates. The appeal doesn't explain how allowing gays to marry would reduce the birth rate among heterosexual couples.

Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway, who announced his bid for governor earlier this week, has refused to defend the ban. Beshear's lawyers are from an outside firm hired by the state.

Read the full brief here.

KENTUCKY: Pro-Gay Marriage Attorney General Announces Bid For Governor

Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway, who has refused to defend his state's ban on same-sex marriage, yesterday announced his candidacy for governor. Gov. Steve Beshear will be term-limited out of office in 2015.

Jack Conway has a message for anyone criticizing his decision to not defend Kentucky's gay-marriage ban. "They do so at their own peril," he said. Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear hired private attorneys to appeal the decision anyway, leaving Conway in a precarious political position for someone with aspirations for the Governor's Mansion. But as public opinion continues to shift in favor of gay marriage, Kentucky voters will tire of rehashing his gay-marriage decision come November 2015, Conway said in an interview. "I think in the fall of 2015 that will not be the big issue," he said. "I think the voters will be more interested in building Kentucky's future than in reliving all of that." Kentucky Republicans did not single out Conway's gay-marriage decision on Tuesday, choosing instead to accuse Conway of adopting the policies and politics of Democratic President Barack Obama, who is widely unpopular in Kentucky.

In 2010 Conway lost his bid for the US Senate to Rand Paul.

Quote Of The Day - Jack Conway

"I felt like that from a fiscal responsibility standpoint, I didn't need to be wasting taxpayer resources in a lawsuit that we weren't going to win or in an appeal that we weren't going to win. For the sake of my daughter's view on my public service in the future, I wanted to be on the right side of history." - Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway, who has refused to defend the state against a marriage equality lawsuit. Democratic Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear has hired outside counsel for the case.

KENTUCKY: State Attorney General Files Limp Defense Of Gay Marriage Ban

The office of Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway has filed its defense against a marriage equality lawsuit brought by a local gay couple. But there's some interesting wording in the defense.

In an 18-page filing in federal court in Louisville, Assistant Attorney General Clay Barkley asked U.S. District Judge John G. Heyburn II to dismiss a lawsuit brought by Gregory Bourke and Michael De Leon. Barkley wrote that the men lack standing to challenge the law. Bourke and De Leon, who were married in Canada nine years ago, sued in July to force the state to recognize valid unions from other states and countries. The men are seeking an injunction to stop state and local officials from enforcing the ban written into the Kentucky constitution in 2004. Much of the state's filing is boilerplate legal language. But, Barkley said same-sex couples seeking to marry "are just as willing as opposite-sex couples to assume the obligations of marriage" and, if allowed to marry, would "benefit equally from the legal protections and social recognition afforded to married couples.

Seems rather half-hearted, eh?  Conway, probably not incidentally, is a Democrat who lost the 2010 Senate race to Rand Paul. During that campaign Conway noted his support for the repeal of DADT, but also stated his opposition to same-sex marriage. A tepid defense of this lawsuit might be his way of "evolving" on the issue, which he'll have to do if he expects to move up.  He can't run for Attorney General again due to term limits.