Arkansas Judge Strikes Down State Ban on Gay Marriage
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Arkansas became the 22nd U.S. state where gay marriage was deemed lawful when a court there threw out a ban on same-sex unions, further extending the growing number of states allowing such unions into the South.
State court Judge Christopher Charles Piazza in Little Rock invalidated Arkansas’ prohibition, citing a 1967 U.S. Supreme Court decision that ruled a ban on interracial marriage was similarly unlawful to support his reasoning. The ruling is the latest victory for same-sex marriage proponents in a spate of litigation nationwide following a Supreme Court ruling in June that overturned part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act.