Moments after Kentucky Attorney General says he won't appeal ruling on gay ...

Gov. Steve Beshear says the state will hire outside counsel after AG Jack Conway said Tuesday that an appeal would be the same as 'defending discrimination.' Recent ruling recognizes same-sex marriages from other states.

Roger Alford/AP

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Gov. Steve Beshear says the state will hire outside attorneys to appeal a judge's decision granting legal recognition to same-sex couples married in other states and countries.

Beshear's announcement on Tuesday came moments after Attorney General Jack Conway said he would not ask a higher court to review the decision.

Both are Democrats.

RELATED: KENTUCKY ATTORNEY GENERAL ASKS TO DELAY STATE'S RECOGNITION OF OUT-OF-STATE GAY MARRIAGES

Their moves come four days after a federal judge in Louisville gave the state 21 days to implement a ruling overturning a voter-imposed ban on recognizing same-sex unions.

U.S. District Judge John G. Heyburn issued a Feb. 12 opinion that Kentucky's ban on recognizing same-sex marriages violated the Constitution's equal-protection clause in the 14th Amendment because it treated 'gay and lesbian persons differently in a way that demeans them.'

Conway had said earlier he wouldn't appeal because doing so 'would be defending discrimination. That I will not do.'

RELATED: KENTUCKY MUST RECOGNIZE SAME-SEX MARRIAGES GRANTED IN OTHER STATES: FEDERAL JUDGE Roger Alford/ASSOCIATED PRESS

The judicial ruling arose from a lawsuit filed by two couples who were married in other states or countries over the past 10 years.

The couples sought to force the state to recognize their unions as legal.

Heyburn's ruling did not require the state to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples; that is the subject of a separate, but related lawsuit.

RELATED: JUDGE RULES THAT VIRGINIA'S SAME-SEX MARRIAGE BAN IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL

Heyburn expects to rule on that issue by summer.

His earlier decision in the socially conservative state comes against the backdrop of similar rulings or actions in other states where same-sex couples have long fought for the right to marry.

Kentucky's constitutional ban was approved by voters in 2004 and included the out-of-state clause.

A federal judge in Texas last week struck down that state's gay marriage ban but immediately delayed the implementation of his ruling pending appeals by the state.

In January, the U.S. Supreme Court put a hold on a decision in Utah recognizing same-sex marriages.