New Jersey Supreme Court will not consider whether the state’s civil union law provides equal rights to gay couples before the case is heard in a lower court. The court said yesterday that it could not consider the merits of the claim by six same-sex couples that New Jersey’s civil union law is unconstitutional, until there is a trial record.

Yesterday, U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Tauro ruled that the Defense of Marriage Act’s denial of federal rights and benefits to lawfully married Massachusetts couples “offends” the notion of states’ rights as enshrined in the 10th amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Hawaii Republican Governor Linda Lingle yesterday vetoed legislation that would have permitted same-sex civil unions, ending months of speculation on how she would weigh in on the contentious, emotional debate.

Kentucky’s Republican U.S. Senate hopeful Rand Paul’s opponent isn’t the only one who thinks Paul compromised his stance against business as usual in Washington, D.C., by taking campaign cash at a high-dollar fund-raiser there last month.

Toby Ray Lasure, 33, the man accused of killing ex-boyfriend Christopher Tolliver, 31, in the parking lot of the Lexington Green Shopping Center last year was ruled competent to stand trial by Fayette Circuit Judge Kimberly Bunnell on Wednesday.

The president of the anti-gay American Family Association of Kentucky, Dr. Frank G. Simon, is also in charge of the Louisville Tea Party, though not endorsed or recognized by the national Tea Party movement. Dr. Rand Paul, is scheduled to speak at Kentucky Freedom Fest 2010.

Not a single member of Kentucky’s Congressional Delegation has co-sponsored U.S. House Resolution 3567, the Respect for Marriage Act. It was quickly place in Committee, where it has remained buried since October 19, 2009. The Commonwealth’s U.S. House Delegation currently includes Ed Whitfield (R), Brett Guthrie (R), John Yarmuth (D), Geoff Davis (R), Hal Rogers (R), and Ben Chandler (D).

Experts at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services are midway through two days of hearings on whether a decades-old ban on gay men donating blood should stand or be lifted. Many states criminalize gay men donating blood, so even if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration lifts the federal ban, gay males in 37 states could still be prosecuted by the state they live in. Most states make gay men donating blood a felony, however, 3 states make it a misdemeanor offense. The Commonwealth of Kentucky is among the 37 states that prosecute.

On July 08, 2009 the Commonwealth of Massachusetts sued the United States Government for infringing on the sovereignty of the Commonwealth with the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) because marriage is “an exclusive prerogative of the states.” Yesterday, the Obama administration defended its right to define marriage as a heterosexual union before a federal judge considering the constitutionality of the Defense Of Marriage Act (DOMA), the AP reported.

Democratic turnout in Kentucky declined 8% from the last midterm, while Republican turnout rose 27%. Most of the increased Republican turnout across Kentucky was contributed to the anti-gay Tea Party movement. No openly gay candidate has every been elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives or the Kentucky Senate. Former Senator Ernesto Scorsone (D-Lexington), didn’t announce his true sexual orientation until after he was elected and did not seek re-election. Scorsone was appointed as a Circuit Court Judge by Governor Steve Beshear as a Circuit Court Judge, thus, the Commonwealth’s tolerance of electing a gay lawmaker has yet to be gaged.