Strange Fruit #65: KY's Landmark Same-Sex Marriage Ruling; Essay Explores James Baldwin's Paris

As we were going into the studio to record this week's episode, news came down that a court ruling had been announced, possibly shaping the future of same-gender marriage in Kentucky: District Judge John G. Heyburn wrote that refusing to recognize same-sex marriages from outside the state violates the U.S. constitution's equal protection clause. WFPL Political Editor Phillip M. Bailey joined us to talk about what exactly the ruling said, and what it could mean for marriage equality going forward. In our feature interview this week, we spoke to author and professor Ellery Washington, who recently wrote an essay for the New York Times about his experience retracing the steps of James Baldwin in Paris. We spoke with Ellery about why James Baldwin is such an important figure in the literary world and in black history (and why he is particularly important to gay black authors!). On next week's show we'll have more about the ruling from one of the lawyers who worked on the case, who's also involved in the next legal step in the process: a lawsuit on behalf of some Kentucky couples who were denied marriage licenses. Photos: James Baldwin in 1962. Carl Mydans/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images; Kentucky graphic by American Foundation for Equal Rights