Tag Archives: Kentucky

KENTUCKY: State Awards $18 Million In Tax Breaks To Ken Ham’s Creationist Ark Encounter Theme Park

Kentucky.com reports: A state agency remade by Gov. Matt Bevin last week has approved $18 million in tax breaks to a Grant County amusement park that will feature a “life-size” Noah’s Ark. The $92 million Ark Encounter project, owned by the same company as the Creation Museum in Petersburg, is scheduled to open July 7. The tax break initially was …

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KENTUCKY: Governor Signs Bill Removing Clerks’ Names From Marriage Licenses, Liberty Counsel Cheers

Reuters reports: Kentucky’s governor on Wednesday signed into law a bill that removes county clerks’ names from the state marriage license forms at the center of a controversy involving an official jailed last year for refusing to issue licenses to gay couples. Senate Bill 216, signed by Republican Governor Matt Bevin, also creates a single form that either heterosexual or …

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KENTUCKY: Compromise Reached On Marriage Licenses

The Kentucky GOP’s plan for a separate marriage license for gay couples has been shot down. Via McClatchyDC: Kentucky would have a single marriage license for straight and gay couples under a compromise plan backed by Republican Gov. Matt Bevin and the Democrat-controlled House Judiciary Committee. The proposed form would allow applicants to identify themselves as bride, groom or spouse …

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State-By-State Hate Update From The ACLU

The ACLU is keeping its eye on the LGBT ball while the rest of the country obsesses on the primaries and terrorism. They write: There are several bills that threaten LGBT equality likely to move this week: North Carolina: The North Carolina legislature will convene in a special session on Wednesday solely to prevent Charlotte’s LGBT non-discrimination ordinance from taking …

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KENTUCKY: Atheist Group Seeks To Troll Ark Encounter Theme Park With “Genocide & Incest” Billboards

Via Raw Story: An atheist group has organized a fundraising campaign in order to mock the $101 million “Ark Encounter” theme park due to open in Kentucky this July. According to columnist and author Dan Arel, the Tri-State Freethinkers are seeking to raise $2,000 in order to erect billboards calling the facility “Genocide and Incest Park.” “The park celebrates a …

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BREAKING: Kentucky Senate Votes 22-16 To Repeal All Local LGBT Rights Laws In The State

Moments ago the Kentucky Senate voted 22-16 to approve a bill which would overturn all local LGBT rights laws in the state. Cities with LGBT protections include Covington, Danville, Frankfort, Lexington, Louisville, Midway, Morehead, and Vicco. Democrats have a slim 53-47 majority in the Kentucky House, but if the bill passes there, anti-gay Gov. Matt Bevin will surely sign it.

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LIVE VIDEO: Kentucky Senate To Vote On Overturning All Local LGBT Rights Ordinances Statewide

Watch live here. Just in from Fairness Kentucky: Senate Bill 180, Senator Albert Robinson’s “License to Discriminate,” is set for a vote by the full Kentucky Senate this afternoon. SB180 narrowly cleared the Senate Veterans, Military Affairs, & Public Protection Committee two weeks ago, when the bill’s sponsor admitted his intent is to undo LGBT discrimination protections in eight Kentucky …

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REPORT: Pope Francis Shitcans Vatican Ambassador Who Embarrassed Him With Kim Davis Debacle

Back in October the New York Times reported that Vatican observers were predicting that Pope Francis would take the “first respectable opportunity” to shitcan the guy who embarrassed him with Kim Davis. That opportunity has arrived. Via the Washington Post: The Vatican will appoint Archbishop Christophe Pierre to be the new ambassador to the United States, replacing an ambassador whose …

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OPEN THREAD: Super Saturday Voting

The GOP holds caucuses today in Kansas, Kentucky, and Maine. Democrats hold their caucuses in Nebraska and Kansas. Both parties have their primaries in Louisiana. If you are voting or caucusing today, weigh in below and share your experience.

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KENTUCKY: Rep Attempts End Run Around Obergefell With Bill Changing “Marriage” To “Matrimony”

Kentucky GOP state Rep. Joe Fischer thinks he can thwart SCOTUS with a 454-page bill that would replace every reference to “marriage” in state law with the word “matrimony.” And guess who can’t enter into matrimony? “Only a matrimony between one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a matrimony in Kentucky.” Zack Ford reports at Think …

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KENTUCKY: State Senate Committee Advances Bill To Nullify All Local Pro-LGBT Ordinances Because Jesus

From Fairness Kentucky: A “License to Discriminate” bill that would sanction discrimination against LGBT Kentuckians passed out of the Senate Veterans, Military Affairs and Public Protection Committee this morning. Senate Bill 180, introduced by Senator Albert Robinson of London, seeks to gut local LGBT Fairness Ordinances passed by eight Kentucky cities. Those cities include Covington, Danville, the State Capital Frankfort, …

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KENTUCKY: Senate Panel Advances Bill To Create Separate Marriage Licenses For Same-Sex Couples

The Kentucky County Clerks Association says it wants to avoid having to ask “which is which” when they fill out the bride and groom portion of marriage licenses for same-sex couples. The Richmond Register reports: A state Senate committee gave approval to a bill that would alter Kentucky marriage licenses to accommodate county clerks who don’t want to sign licenses …

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KENTUCKY: Federal Court Rules That Kim Davis Has Obeyed Orders To Issue Same-Sex Marriage Licenses

A federal judge today ruled moot the ACLU’s lawsuit against Kim Davis, declaring that same-sex marriage licenses she refused to sign are valid under Kentucky law. The Associated Press reports: United States District Judge David Bunning denied the American Civil Liberties Union’s request to order Davis to reissue licenses she had altered to remove her name and title or face …

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BREAKING: Rand Paul Suspends Presidential Campaign

And then there were ten. Multiple outlets are reporting that Sen. Rand Paul will suspend his presidential campaign this morning after his low single-digit performance in the Iowa caucus. Paul will now turn his attention to his Senate reelection campaign where his primary Democratic challenger so far is the openly gay mayor of Lexington.

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Kentucky Marriage Plaintiffs Endorse Bernie Sanders

Chris Johnson reports at the Washington Blade: Days after the Human Rights Campaign endorsed Hillary Clinton in her bid for the White House, same-sex couples that sued for the right to marry in Kentucky announced they’re behind Bernard Sanders. One of the couples is Timothy Love and Larry Ysunza, who were plaintiffs in the Love v. Beshear lawsuit seeking the …

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KENTUCKY: Openly Gay Lexington Mayor Jim Gray To Challenge Rand Paul For US Senate [VIDEO]

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports: Lexington Mayor Jim Gray will file to run for the U.S. Senate Tuesday morning as a Democrat, declaring his candidacy to unseat Republican U.S. Sen. Rand Paul on the day of Kentucky’s filing deadline. Gray, 62, told the Herald-Leader Monday night that he decided to challenge Paul last week, and he “absolutely” believes he can win …

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Kim Davis Tells AFA: God Personally Chose Me To Make A Stand Against Same-Sex Marriage [AUDIO]

Brian Tashman reports at Right Wing Watch: On Friday, American Family Radio host and American Family Association official Sandy Rios broadcast an interview that she had conducted with Davis, in which she lavished praise on Davis for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. “It’s interesting to me how God chose you,” Rios said. “Not a Sunday school teacher, …

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KENTUCKY: Federal Court Awards $1.1 Million In Legal Fees To Same-Sex Marriage Attorneys

Last year former Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear threw a hissy fit over the “unreasonable” legal fees demanded by the good guys in his state’s losing battle against same-sex marriage. Beshear left office last month, tossing that hefty bill in the lap of incoming wingnut Gov. Matt Bevin, who now has to eat a $1.1M shit sandwich courtesy of a ruling …

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Mat Staver: Kim Davis Will Be At The SOTU To Remind America Of Obama’s Attack On Religious Liberty

“Kim Davis, the Rowan County clerk jailed for her faith, and her attorney, Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel, will be present for President Obama’s final State of the Union Address on Tuesday night, January 12, 2016. While the President will be extolling his ‘accomplishments’ of the last seven years, Kim Davis and Mat Staver will be a …

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KENTUCKY: Gov. Matt Bevin Notifies Feds That He Will Begin Dismantling State Insurance Exchange

The Frankfort Courier-Journal reports: Following through on a campaign pledge, Gov. Matt Bevin has notified federal authorities he plans to dismantle kynect, Kentucky’s health insurance exchange created under the Affordable Care Act. The decision drew immediate fire from health care advocates, including Bill Wagner, executive director of the Family Health Centers, a network of public health clinics in Louisville. “It’s …

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