Marriage Equality USA

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Current Status


HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

  • In 1997, the Arkansas General Assembly passed a ban on same-sex marriage and recognition of same-sex marriages performed out of state. The bill was signed into law by Governor Mike Huckabee.
  • In November 2004, Arkansas voters approved Constitutional Amendment 3, a state initiated constitutional amendment that prohibited the recognition of same-sex marriage, as well as anything "identical or substantially similar to marital status" in the state of Arkansas.
  • Marriage equality was legal in Arkansas for a week, 9 May 2014 until 16 May 2014, as the result of Sixth Judicial Circuit Judge Chris Piazza's ruling declaring the state ban unconstitutional. During that week, approximately 450 same-sex couples received marriage licenses.
  • Arkansas was the first former Confederate state to legalize same-sex marriage.
  • Arkansas was also the first state in the Bible Belt to legalize same-sex marriage.
  • The Arkansas constitutional ban on same-sex marriages and civil unions was active from 2004 until 2015, per Constitutional Amendment 3. 
  • On 9 May 2014, the ban was ruled unconstitutional by County Circuit Judge Chris Piazza in the marriage case Wright et al. v. Arkansas.
  • On 25 November 2014, U.S. District Judge Kristine G. Baker ruled that the Arkansas marriage ban violated the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the United States Constitution, in the marriage case Jernigan v. Crane (see under LAWSUITS-PENDING below).
  • 19 September 2014, the Respect for Marriage Coalition, of which Marriage Equality USA is a member, sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Holder urging the federal government to recognize the same-sex marriages previously performed in Arkansas, Indiana and Wisconsin. 
  • 25 November 2014, U.S. District Judge Kristine G. Baker ruled that the Arkansas marriage ban violated the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the United States Constitution. See Jernigan v. Crane under LAWSUITS-PENDING below. The ruling was stayed until final resolution of the appeal to the 8th Circuit. UPDATE: 29 April 2015, the Court, of its own accord, put the 8th Circuit oral arguments and all further proceedings on hold until SCOTUS ruled in the marriage cases. That pro-marriage equality ruling was issued by the U.S. Supreme Court on 26 June 2015.

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