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Kentucky Lawmaker Wants to Allow Others Besides Attorney General to Appeal Same-Sex Marriage Opinion

FRANKFORT — A Republican state senator says he intends to file a bill that would allow a third party to appeal a federal judge's order that Kentucky must recognize out-of-state same-sex marriages.State Sen. Dan Seum tells Kentucky Public Radio that if Attorney General Jack Conway decides not to appeal Judge John Heyburn's opinion, his bill would allow others to do so.“We’re looking at the potential to file legislation that would allow some other group or some other person to intervene in the ruling other than the Attorney General," says Seum, of Louisville. "Right now, as I understand it, only the Attorney General can intervene in this case, so we would maybe look at legislation that we could actually allow someone else to do that.” Earlier: Same-Sex Marriages Are Recognized in Kentucky at the Moment; Here's What That MeansThe lawsuit was initiated last year by a Louisville couple who were married in Canada; Conway and Gov. Steve Beshear are listed as defendants. A spokeswoman for Conway’s office says that the law doesn’t need to be changed and that Conway has defended the law appropriately to date.Conway has asked for a 90-day stay to decide whether or not to appeal Heyburn's opinion, which was finalized on Thursday. Heyburn has not decided whether to grant the stay; a conference is expected in the case on Friday. Even if the stay is not granted, Conway has 30 days to appeal.Two same-sex  couples denied marriage licenses in Louisville have been allowed to join the lawsuit, but the matter of allowing same-sex marriages in Kentucky will be settled later.