Kentucky

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky lawmakers have voted to override the governor's veto of a bill intended to better protect legal claims of religious freedom. [ Read more → ]

FRANKFORT, Ky. — The Kentucky state House is prepared to hold a vote Tuesday on overriding Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear's veto of a bill that sponsors say is intended to protect the religious beliefs of Kentuckians from government intrusion. [ Read more → ]

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Gov. Steve Beshear will have to decide Friday whether to veto a bill that supporters say would give stronger legal standing in Kentucky to people who claim their religious rights are being violated. [ Read more → ]

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Gay rights activists are at odds over the direction of the LGBT equality movement in Kentucky, with some saying the state needs anti-discrimination laws before activists can pursue marriage equality, while others say the time is now for same-sex marriage. [ Read more → ]

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- LGBT advocates and civil rights groups have joined with the American Civil Liberities Union (ACLU) in calling on Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear to veto a religious freedom bill approved in the state Senate last week. [ Read more → ]

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- A southeastern Kentucky town that attracted national attention when it adopted a gay rights ordinance is getting offers for a reality-based television show. [ Read more → ]

BEREA, Ky. — LGBT citizens scored another victory in Kentucky, as the small town of Berea prepares to expand anti-discrimination protections for city employees. [ Read more → ]

VICCO, Ky. -- The Appalachian town of Vicco, Ky., on Monday approved the state's first LGBT-inclusive anti-discrimination ordinance in a decade. The "fairness ordinance," which prohibits discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations based upon a person's actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity,... [ Read more → ]

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- A Kentucky Human Rights Commission has sided with organizers of the Lexington Pride Festival in its discrimination complaint against T-shirt printer Hands On Originals, after the owner refused to print t-shirts for the city's annual pride event, and said it was because his is "a Christian organization." [ Read more → ]

LONDON, KY -- After five hours of deliberations, a jury in Kentucky late Wednesday acquitted two men of hate crime charges, while finding them guilty of kidnapping and conspiracy in connection with the attack on a gay man. [ Read more → ]

Jurors began deliberations Wednesday in the case of two men charged in a federal hate crimes case Wednesday, the first in the nation under a section of the federal hate crimes law that makes it illegal to attack someone based on the victim's real or perceived sexual orientation. [ Read more → ]

LONDON, Ky. -- The federal trial of two men charged in an anti-gay hate crime in Harlan County, Ky., got underway in U.S. District Court Wednesday, the first federal application of the Matthew Shepard-James Byrd Hate Crimes Prevention Act for charges relating to the victim's sexual orientation. [ Read more → ]

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Drivers in Lexington, Ky., have been caught by surprise by a new billboard condemning homosexuality and abortion using Old Testament references. [ Read more → ]

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- The two Kentucky women connected to the beating of an openly gay Kentucky man have pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting a kidnapping and hate crime assault, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky. [ Read more → ]

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- A federal grand jury in London, Ky. on Thursday indicted two men in the first federal application of the Matthew Shepard-James C. Bryd hate crimes law since it was signed into law in October of 2009, according to an announcement by Kerry B. Harvey, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky. [ Read more → ]

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Organizers of the Lexington Pride Festival have filed a complaint against local apparel company, Hands On Originals, after the owner refused to print t-shirts for the city's annual pride event, and said it was because his is "a Christian organization." [ Read more → ]

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- A bill that would have expanded Kentucky's anti-bullying laws by linking harassment to sexual orientation, race and other characteristics, died in the House Education Committee on Tuesday after facing opposition from Republican lawmakers. [ Read more → ]

The City of Hazard, Ky., has suspended an employee for ejecting two gay men from a public recreational facility citing the Bible as his reason for doing so. [ Read more → ]

The Kentucky Equality Federation on Monday condemned Hazard, Ky., Pavilion for ejecting two gay men from their facility, because the Bible said they could. [ Read more → ]

A Kentucky judge on Tuesday ruled that a white supremacist had committed a hate crime when he attacked four people last year outside a bar frequented by gays. [ Read more → ]