In July 1970, the Louisville Gay Liberation Front became the first organization in Kentucky to openly advocate for gay equality when 17 young gay liberationists met in an apartment at 420 Belgravia Ct. owned by LGBTQ advocate Jack Kersey to protest Marge Jones and Tracy Knight's denial of a marriage license. The group held marches and established the city's first LGBTQ hotline and shelter as well as a gay studies course at U of L. That same month, Jones and Knight applied for a marriage license from the Jefferson Co. clerk and, after being denied, sued and carried their case as far as the Kentucky Court of Appeals. Although the ruling in 1973 was unfavorable, Jones v. Hallahan marked the first lesbian marriage trial in U.S. history and helped inspire 21st-cen. efforts that legalized LGBTQ marriage.