Seven legally wed samesex couples, part of a group attempting to topple Arkansas’ constitutional ban on gay marriage in Pulaski County Circuit Court, petitioned a judge Thursday to force the state to recognize their unions ahead of a trial that they are confident they will win.
The Arkansas attorney general’s office has yet to respond to the lawsuit filed in July on behalf of 19 couples that names Gov. Mike Beebe, Attorney General Dustin Mc-Daniel, the state Department of Health’s director and six county clerks as defendants.
The plaintiffs in Thursday’s petition want Judge Jay Moody to issue a temporary restraining order that will allow them to have both parents’ names put on their children’s birth certificates, qualify for insurance and other benefits, and recognize the parental rights of both spouses.
According to the petition, 13 states, five Indian nations and the District of Columbia permit same-sex marriage,while seven states allow legal unions for gay couples. The suit was filed to reflect the U.S. Supreme Court decision on the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which extended federal recognition of marriage to legally wed same-sex couples.
The plaintiffs, represented by attorney Cheryl Maples of Searcy, argue they meet the two-pronged standard to be granted the order: that they suffer irreparable harm without it and that they are likely to win their lawsuit.
The argument they will prevail includes the fact that Arkansas does recognize opposite-sex marriages from other states and nationalities, even if those marriages are not permitted in Arkansas, such as common-law marriages, unions between first cousins and marriages between minors, the 19-page petition states.
“By treating lawful samesex marriages differently than it treats lawful … marriages, Arkansas law, as applied to these plaintiffs, violates the Arkansas Constitution and the United States Constitution in that itdenies plaintiffs due process and equal protection, fails to give full faith and credit, as required by the U.S. Constitution, to state-sanctioned public acts … and impairs the obligation of these marital contracts, as barred by Arkansas’ Declaration of Rights contained in the body of our constitution,” the petition states. “Plaintiffs have suffered and continue to suffer denial of constitutional rights, social stigma, emotional and psychological damage and financial losses as a direct result of Arkansas law.”
The petitioning plaintiffs were married in Iowa, Massachusetts and Canada.They are Natalie and Tommie Wartick, M. Kendall and Julia Wright, Kimberly and Felicity Robinson, Jennifer Moore and Mandy Lyles, Andra Alsbury and Amber Gardner-Alsbury, John Schenk and Robert Loyd, and William King and John McClay Rankine.
Three other couples have filed a separate federal lawsuit to challenge the constitutionality of the same-sex marriage ban.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 8 on 08/19/2013