As governor, Steve Beshear led the legal challenge to a highly controversial federal court decision authorizing same-sex marriage, a ruling that was political kryptonite for Democrats in conservative Kentucky.

But here's a surprise: In a book to be released Friday, "People Over Politics," Beshear, a Democrat, claims that he had come to support same-sex marriage even though his administration appealed the 2014 federal court ruling striking down Kentucky's ban.

"My views on same-sex marriage went through a long evolution over my entire lifetime," said Beshear, a native of Western Kentucky and son of a Baptist preacher. "I did reach the conclusion, slowly but surely, that individuals who love each other ought to be able to consummate that relationship in a legal manner."

Beshear discusses a range of topics in the book that covers his two terms as governor from 2007 to 2015, with special focus on the health coverage expansion he enacted in Kentucky under the Affordable Care Act also known as Obamacare.

Among his observations:

At a time when journalists are under fire from politicians including his successor as governor, Republican Matt Bevin, Beshear laments the cutbacks in the state news media that leaves the Capitol with far fewer reporters to do important work. "Here in Kentucky, we desperately need the public to better understand the challenges facing this state," he writes.

Beshear criticizes the hypocrisy of some in public office who "go to church on Sunday and then on Monday vote against health care for the working poor," adding, "It's time for voters to wake up and quit being played for suckers. It's time for people to again separate the pew from the ballot box when it comes to hypocritical politicians . . ."

And while he agrees that the state's public pension system is facing a serious shortfall, in a chapter called "Channeling Chicken Little," he said it's not as dire as some officials claim and that reforms undertaken during his administration will help make a difference. "The sky isn't falling and doomsday is not around the bend," he wrote.

More:Beshear administration official admits to raising contributions from state workers

More:Bevin lashes out at Courier-Journal story on his media policy, calls reporters 'cicadas'

More:Matt Bevin's media policy: Ignore reporters and control the message

Beshear devotes a chapter to the same-sex marriage debate that roiled Kentucky, explaining that despite his personal views—which he declined to disclose at the time—he pursued the appeal so the case could get final resolution. (It did when the U.S. Supreme Court in 2015 struck down state efforts to ban same-sex marriage.)

His account is sure to provoke skepticism from those who saw Beshear's appeal as a purely political move to protect Democrats running for legislative seats in 2014 as well as to protect his son Andy Beshear, a Democrat running for attorney general.

Beshear, in an interview Wednesday, said he understands such skepticism and that's why he wanted to tell his story in his 364-page book published by A Stronger Kentucky Inc., a charitable and educational group he founded.

"People may not agree with what I did, but at least they know why I did it," he said.

The main purpose of his book, Beshear said, is to try to "make government" work again in an age of partisanship and gridlock.

Much of it is devoted to his efforts to expand access to health care in Kentucky after the federal Affordable Care Act was enacted in 2010.

Beshear details many efforts to work with Republicans, who controlled the Senate, and Democrats, the majority party in the House, during his tenure. But he acknowledges having to sidestep lawmakers — with most Republicans and some Democrats adamantly opposed to Obamacare — by using executive orders to enact provisions of the law in Kentucky.

Beshear said his executive orders — one in 2012 creating the state's health insurance exchange, kynect, and the other, in 2013, expanding Medicaid — were worth it because more than 500,000 Kentuckians gained health coverage. Kentucky experienced one of the sharpest drops in the nation in the rate of uninsured, going from 20 percent of residents with no health coverage to around 7 percent.

"It's a huge success both from a moral and economic standpoint," said Beshear, whose book details the health and economic gains he said the expansion has brought to Kentucky, largely through Medicaid, a program financed mostly by the federal government.

Still, Beshear, who describes health coverage as his "legacy," acknowledges it has an uncertain future.

Bevin, who ran a campaign promising to dismantle Obamacare in Kentucky, is shutting down kynect and working to dramatically overhaul the Medicaid expansion, seeking federal permission to change it to a more limited program with cost-sharing and reduced health services. Bevin has said the state can't afford its share of the Medicaid expansion and cost-sharing will encourage more personal responsibility.

Meanwhile, in Washington, where Republicans control Congress, lawmakers are involved in an ongoing effort to repeal the health law and replace it with their own creation, which could mean major changes to or elimination of much of Kentucky's program.

Beshear said his hope of preserving the best parts of the health law is a key reason he wrote his book.

"I'm hopeful that further public discussion will make a difference in where we end up," he said.

Beshear will be signing copies of his book in Louisville on Friday at 11 a.m. at Carmichael's Bookstore, 2720 Frankfort Ave., and in Lexington at 4 p.m. at Joseph Beth Booksellers, 161 Lexington Green Circle.

Contact reporter Deborah Yetter at 502-582-4228 or at dyetter@courier-journal.com.