May 11, 2012 

And now Arkansas. Yes, Arkansas is the latest state to overturn a gay marriage ban that was passed by voters in 2004. A Pulaski County Circuit Judge Christopher Piazza said that the state's 2004 voter-approved constitutional amendment that defined marriage as between a man and a woman violates the constitution. This is the latest in a series of rulings since the Supreme Court over turned the Defense of Marriage Law in 2013, in which the United States Supreme Court ruled that "DOMA" was unconstitutional.


 

In the ruling, Judge Piazza wrote, “It has been over forty years since Mildred Loving was given the right to marry the person of her choice. The hatred and fears have long since vanished and she and her husband lived full lives together; so it will be for the same-sex couples. It is time to let that beacon of freedom shine brighter on all our brothers and sisters.  We will be stronger for it.”

The United States Defense of Marriage Act" (DOMA), was a 1996 law that prohibited the federal government from recognizing the marriages of same-sex couples for purposes of federal programs and benefits such as Social Security and immigration. Same-sex couples were not eligible for more than 1400 rights that married opposite couples receive. When the Supreme Court overturned DOMA, they did not rule on whether or not same-sex marriage should be legal. That issue is left up to the states. But, now that the law has been over turned, many state constitutions that forbid marriage between same-sex couple have been over-turned.

 

States such as Utah, Illinois and New Mexico have all over-turned bans on same-sex marriage since the Supreme court overturned DOMA. Judges in Michigan, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and Virginia have struck down their state's gay marriage bans, while those in Kentucky, Ohio, Oregon and Tennessee have ordered the states to recognize same-sex marriages from other states.

Challenge to Arkansas Marriage Law

 

Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDonald announced that he would appeal to the state's high court the decision to overturn Arkansas' gay marriage ban. Before he could appeal, 15 marriage licenses were issued to same-sex couples in northwest Arkansas' Carroll County. Gay marriage has made it's way to the Bible Belt in the U.S. South.

Some counties in Arkansas have issued marriage licenses. Others started and stopped. Couples rushed to Pulaski County to get married before a possible stay that could at least temporarily halt the ceremonies.

If the ruling is upheld, Arkansas will join 17 other states and Washington, D.C., where same-sex marriages have been legalized.