Arkansas gay marriage is once again banned by state law as well as by voter-approved constitutional amendment. The ban was briefly lifted in May 2014, but the ruling remains suspended. Currently, the state does not recognize any homosexual relationship.
In 1997, Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee signed a bill by the general assembly that officially banned same sex marriage as well as the recognition of any unions performed outside state jurisdiction. In 2004, Constitutional Amendment 3 further denied gays any form of official status. Over the next decade, the legal front heated with several key suits against the Arkansas gay marriage laws.
• July 2013, Wright vs. Arkansas: Eleven gay couples filed a state lawsuit over the original amendment prohibiting gays from legal unions.
In May 9, 2014, circuit judge Chris Piazza ruled Arkansas’s anti-marriage ban as unconstitutional. Shortly after, he also removed the law that prohibited county officials from issuing marriage licenses. Following the ruling, the state issued over 450 wedding certificates to same gender couples across the state. This only lasted one week, as the Supreme Court has since suspended the ruling, effectively banning gay marriage once again.
According to the 2010 US Census data presented by the Williams Institute at UCLA, there are over 4,200 homosexual couples residing in Arkansas. The following organizations are activity campaigning for equal marriage rights:
• Freedom to Marry – the national campaign to legalize marriage for homosexual couples in all states.
• Center for Artistic Revolution- a tax-exempt, non-profit organization that promotes statewide fairness and equality through creativity. They run the only LBGT youth and young adult camp in the Southeast region, and their PFLAG advocates for the health and well being of LGBT families and individuals.
Following the state’s brief legalization of same sex marriage, activists are now working harder than ever to repeal Arkansas gay marriage laws. Their success has garnered at least partial support from over half of all state voters.
