How Kentucky’s U.S. House delegation voted on same-sex marriage bill

Kentucky’s five Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives voted “no” on a bill that codify federal protections for same-sex couples seeking marriage.

Those protections were given to same-sex couples in 2015 when same-sex marriage was established as a right granted by the 14th amendment by the Supreme Court in the landmark case Obergefell v. Hodges.

But Democrats say they brought the bill forward as an answer to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ suggestion in a concurring opinion, on the landmark case that struck down a federal right to an abortion, that the nation’s highest court could “reconsider” Obergefell, among other cases.

The bill passed the House 267 to 157, with 47 of the GOP’s minority joining all 220 Democrats in voting for the bill.

All five Kentucky House Republicans voted against the bill. That includes GOP congressmen who represent deeply conservative districts like James Comer and Brett Guthrie in Western Kentucky, Thomas Massie in Northern Kentucky and Hal Rogers in the Eastern portion of the state. It also includes U.S. Rep. Andy Barr, whose district includes Lexington, is traditionally more moderate, and has seen closer general election results than the remaining GOP House members’ districts.

Barr’s vote has drawn the ire of members of the LGBTQ community in the Bluegrass region as well as prominent Kentucky Democrats.

“The congressman meant to represent my district voted against codifying marriage equality. Not surprised at all but I want everyone to know that @RepAndyBarr is a bigot and stands against the separation of church and state,” Silas House, a popular Kentucky author, tweeted Monday night.

In a statement, Barr said the bill was “less about codifying same-sex marriage and more about expressing scorn and intolerance for people of faith who have a sincerely held religious belief in favor of traditional marriage.” He emphasized that the majority opinion disagreed with Thomas’ suggestion that courts would reconsider Obergefell and that the Democrats’ bill is “a gratuitous and politically-motivated measure.”

Louisville’s Democratic U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth was the only Kentucky congressman to vote for the measure. He framed it as a necessary move to ensure marriage equality.

“Conservatives and religious zealots in Congress and on the courts have launched an outright assault on the fundamental rights of millions. We must ensure marriage equality remains the law of the land,” Yarmuth tweeted on Monday.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, of Kentucky, has thus far declined to express his opinion of the bill.

Same-sex marriage is an issue on which social conservatives are quickly losing ground, at least nationally.

Support for marriage equality nationwide has catapulted to 71% as of June. It became more popular than not in the U.S. in 2012, when former president Barack Obama, a Democrat, changed his stance to support it. In 2014, polling found that Kentuckians supported same-sex marriage at a percentage rate in the mid- to high-thirties while more than half of all Kentuckians opposed. However, if Kentucky’s attitudes swung as quickly as the rest of the nation’s, from 54% to 71% approval between 2014 and 2021, it would be more supported than opposed as of today.

In Kentucky, same-sex marriage is technically against the state constitution based on an amendment that passed via ballot initiative in 2004. However, the federal protections provided by Obergefell trump the state constitution.