The Associated Press

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Ordinances prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation in Louisville and Jefferson County will be in place next month when the two governments merge following a federal appeals court ruling.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals dismissed a Louisville gynecologist's lawsuit that challenged the ordinances.

"They will be in play unless and until the (Metro) Council does something different with them," Assistant County Attorney Scott Lilly said Friday of the ordinances.

The court's decision did not address the particulars of the ordinances but said that the gynecologist, Dr. J. Barrett Hyman, did not have standing to file the lawsuit.

Dr. Hyman contended, in part, that his religious beliefs were in conflict with the ordinances so much that he could not comply with them - including the hiring of a gay or lesbian employee - and that he thus risked prosecution based on his faith, which is protected by the First Amendment.

Dr. Hyman didn't have standing when he filed the lawsuit in September 1999 because he didn't have "an immediate or projected need" to hire an employee, according to the seven-page opinion written by Judge Alice M. Batchelder.

The opinion also said that "because his views were known in the community, he did not have any real expectation that he would have any homosexual applicants for employment in the future."

Because he could not show that he was being harmed or had a sizable chance of being harmed, the judges said Dr. Hyman didn't have standing.

The ruling vacated an earlier decision by U.S. District Judge Charles Simpson III, which said the ordinances did not violate Dr. Hyman's rights.

The appellate decision would allow Dr. Hyman to file another lawsuit, Mr. Lilly said.

Attempts to reach Dr. Hyman and his attorney, Frank Manion, by telephone Friday were unsuccessful.

Dr. Hyman has said previously he would appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The lawsuit was filed against the city and the county.

The Fairness Campaign, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, filed to become involved in the case in support of the ordinances.

Leslie Cooper, a lawyer for the ACLU, said she would "be surprised" if the Supreme Court agreed to hear Dr. Hyman's case.

Dr. Hyman's case "was always about trying to strike down a law with which the plaintiff didn't agree and a law that protects the civil rights of lesbians and gay men," Ms. Cooper said.

Dan Farrell, a former Fairness Campaign board member, said the decision is a victory even though the appeals court judges didn't address the merits of the ordinances.