First gay couples wed in Little Rock

Little Rock, Ark. — Thomas Baldwin and Devin Rudeseal exited the Pulaski County Courthouse on Monday morning with a loud cheer.

They were one of the first couples in Pulaski County to marry after a circuit judge late Friday overturned Arkansas' constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. With that ruling, Arkansas became the first state in the South to allow gay marriage.

“We didn’t think it would become legal this quick in Arkansas,” Baldwin said. “We thought the Supreme Court would have to take it up and there would be some ruling there.”

On Friday, Pulaski County Circuit Judge Chris Piazza ruled Arkansas' voter-approved ban on gay marriage was unconstitutional as result of a lawsuit filed by 12 same-sex couples who wanted to marry in Arkansas and eight same-sex couples who had already legally married in other states.

“Our freedoms are often acquired slowly, but our country has evolved as a beacon of liberty in what is sometimes a dark world,” Piazza wrote in his decision. “It is time to let that beacon of freedom shine brighter on all our brothers and sisters. We will be stronger for it.”

Piazza did not issue a stay in his ruling, which opened the door for all 75 counties in the state to issue marriage licenses for same-sex couples. Without a stay, county officials were left to decide if they wanted to issue licenses.

On Saturday, Carroll County clerks in Eureka Springs opened the courthouse and issued 15 marriage licenses to couples. On Monday, only four counties were issuing licenses, and Carroll County clerks were no longer granting licenses at the order of the county’s prosecuting attorney.

Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel filed paperwork Monday morning formally asking the state Supreme Court to temporarily set aside Piazza's ruling, which could halt marriage licenses. McDaniel has previously said he supports same-sex marriage but must defend state law.

The Arkansas Supreme Court responded Monday afternoon to McDaniel's request and gave plaintiffs until noon Tuesday to respond, which allows counties to continue issuing licenses until then. It's uncertain when the state's Supreme Court will rule.

Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a law forbidding the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages was unconstitutional. Since then, state and federal judges have struck down other same-sex marriage bans and ordered states to recognize same-sex marriages from other states.

Seventeen states and Washington, D.C., allow same-sex marriages.

In Arkansas, a conservative state that trends more Republican with each election, Piazza’s ruling was unexpected.

“It’s surprising because of the fact that public opinion patterns place Arkansas at one end of the continuum of states in the nation on attitudes on the subject,” says Jay Barth, a professor of politics at Hendrix College in Conway, Ark. “Moreover, while public opinion has shifted dramatically in other states in recent years, little change has happened here, according to polling.”

In 2004, Amendment 83, which makes it unconstitutional for the state to recognize or perform same-sex marriages or civil unions, passed with 75 percent of the vote. Piazza wrote that “the fact that Amendment 83 was popular with voters does not protect it from constitutional scrutiny.”

Barth, who has studied public opinion on LGBT issues and Arkansas politics, said the state has long had a “historically independent judiciary,” and that Little Rock, where the ruling occurred, is “fairly progressive for the South."

Jerry Cox, the president of Family Council, led the efforts to pass Amendment 83 and wants the Supreme Court to uphold the voters’ consensus from 10 years ago.

“The marriage of one man to one woman has been a cornerstone of Western civilization for thousands of years,” Cox said. “This ruling undermines marriage, because once people start redefining marriage, there seems to be no place to stop. The overall marriage rate is in decline, especially in countries where same-sex marriage has been legal for several years. It seems that the end result of this will be fewer marriages overall, and that will not be good for children, and it will not be good for society.”

In the Pulaski County courthouse, couples cried and cheered as they obtained marriage licenses while friends and family snapped pictures.

Lynn Smith and Brian Minyard married in San Francisco in 2008, but also wanted to marry in their home state for both sentimental and practical reasons.

“We wanted some legal document for protection here,” Smith said. “We made the decision last night to do this and jumped at the chance. We never thought Arkansas would be the first state in the South where this happened. Instead, we thought the state would go kicking and screaming into this.”

The couple is worried about the attorney general’s latest action, but they believe the state Supreme Court will ultimately side with Piazza’s ruling. Even then, the couple knows that their marriage is legally on shaky ground.

“Until it’s legal in all 50 states, there will always be questions,” Smith said.

In a courthouse packed with LGBT supporters and activists waving rainbow flags, only two protesters showed.

Every time a couple married, Larry O. Walker shouted, “Marriage is between a male and female ... These are the words of the almighty God. 'Woe unto you,' said the Lord.” He held two signs that read “God loves you but not your sin” and “A sad day for Arkansas and America.”

Little Rock resident Joey Cole — an ordained minister of the Universal Church of Modesto, California, a congregation that allows one to be ordained online — has married more than 40 same-sex couples in the last 10 years. Cole, wearing a long black robe and a rainbow stole, said that he wanted to be part of Arkansas history and offered his services to any couple who wanted to marry, including Baldwin and Rudeseal, who took him up on the offer.

“You cannot stop progress, and this is progress regardless of what the next legal step is,” Cole said.