NEXT DAY UPDATE: Marriages have begun in AR...
By Brad Friedman on 5/9/2014, 3:34pm PT  

A state judge has found Arkansas' state Constitutional ban on same-sex marriage to be a violation of the U.S. Constitution. Here's a statement on the case, just in from the Freedom to Marry advocacy group...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 9, 2014

Arkansas Judge Strikes Down Marriage Ban

New York - Today Judge Chris Piazza of Arkansas upheld same-sex couples' freedom to marry, striking down the state's discriminatory constitutional amendment and becoming one of more than a dozen judges to rule in favor of the freedom to marry since last year's Supreme Court decision in U.S. v. Windsor.

Evan Wolfson, president of Freedom to Marry, released the following statement:

"Today a state circuit judge in Arkansas ruled in favor of the freedom to marry, the latest in a unanimous wave of favorable rulings from more than a dozen state and federal judges across the country in recent months. Judge Piazza held that there is no good reason for discriminating against couples and their loved ones just because they are gay. With nearly 70 marriage cases now making their way through the courts, and five federal appellate courts now hearing arguments and soon to rule, today's decision out of Arkansas underscores that all of America is ready for the freedom to marry."

A record-high 59% of Americans support marriage for same-sex couples. 50% of Southerners support marriage, with only 42% opposed.

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Freedom to Marry is the campaign to win marriage nationwide. We are pursuing our Roadmap to Victory by working to win the freedom to marry in more states, grow the national majority for marriage, and end federal marriage discrimination. We partner with individuals and organizations across the country to end the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage and the protections, responsibilities, and commitment that marriage brings.

Constitutionally conservative equal protection under the law continues to sweep across the nation, as we'd long ago predicted it would.

Indeed, the race is on, at this point, to figure out which state will be the last in the union to accept the inevitable. Surprisingly, as both we and The Daily Show discovered not long ago, it's unlikely to be whichever state you might have otherwise guessed.

So, which state will be last? Leave your guesses in comments for history. We should be able to determine the winner before very long --- likely even well before Obama leaves office, at this rate.

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UPDATE 5/10/14: The first same-sex marriages in the state have begun. Congrats, Arkansas!...

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Article Categories: Arkansas, Rights And Freedoms, U.S. Constitution, Marriage Equality