Facing a deadline of midnight tonight to adjourn, legislative leaders have yet to agree on a budget. Governor Beshear told Kentucky lawmakers to “get their egos under control” and produce a budget by midnight as Kentuckians expect. Currently, the new budget has no funding for the Kentucky AIDS Drug Assistance Program, but an effort led by Kentucky Equality Federation effectively killed House Bill 350, a bill that would have dismantled the education and prevention efforts performed by the Kentucky HIV/AIDS Branch, a unit of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services.

Jackson Memorial Hospital may be ranked among “America’s Best Hospitals,” but it has a spotty track record in dealing with LGBT issues. While a lesbian was dying in the hospital, hospital officials denied her partner visitation rights. This is the same sort of problem Kentucky Equality Federation and Louisville’s Fairness Campaign have been trying to prevent in Kentucky.

Budget negotiations in Frankfort collapsed Wednesday amid enormous differences over a sliver of the spending plan that would create a spate of state-backed construction projects while adding to the Commonwealth’s debt. Organizations across the Commonwealth have expressed alarm and dismay that the budget will be passed that does not include funding for the Kentucky AIDS Drug Assistance Program (KADAP).

Former Governor and current Kentucky Senator Julian Carroll (D) looses his cool with CNN. Many in Frankfort are upset with Senator Carroll for loosing his tempter and calling him an “embarrassment.” A CNN news crew followed the chair of Independent’s voters who is trying to change Kentucky law to allow Independents to vote in primary elections.

If ever there were a roller-coaster year, 2009 was it. A we await the new year, Kentucky’s exhausted LGBTI civil rights leaders, as well as the thousands of activist, supporters, and allies enjoy some much needed downtime before it all starts again in 2010.

Election 2010 could bring additional changes to Kentucky’s political makeup. Democrats have taken additional seats in the Kentucky Senate, and the Commonwealth has two openly gay men running for the Kentucky House of Representatives. One key to victory for gay politicians has been building reputations in their communities as candidates well qualified for the job. Voters who may be uncomfortable with homosexuality in the abstract are often willing to vote for a gay individual they feel they know, political strategists claim.

The Kentucky Young Democrats, and the Young Democrats of America (“YDA”) also have their eyes on the Kentucky Senate, as Democrats have an opportunity to retake the upper chamber of the Kentucky General Assembly.

Until the politicians who take our community for granted realize that they can no longer count on our votes unless we can count on theirs, things will never change for Kentucky’s LGBTI community. A Democratic majority in the Kentucky Senate could also mean a school bullying bill would be passed, in addition to a statewide equality law prohibiting discrimination in employment, housing, and credit for Kentucky’s gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community. Both measures have passed the Democratic controlled House of Representatives in the past, but died in the Republican controlled Senate.