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Couples Ask Arkansas High Court To Allow Gay Marriages To Resume

File photo of couples lined up last May on the first day that Pulaski County offered marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
Michael Hibblen

The couples challenging Arkansas' gay marriage ban are asking the state's highest court to lift its stay in the case and allow clerks to resume issuing same-sex marriage licenses.

The couples on Tuesday asked the Arkansas Supreme Court to lift its stay of a Pulaski County judge's ruling that a 2004 constitutional amendment and earlier state law defining marriage as between a man and a woman was unconstitutional. Justices suspended Judge Chris Piazza's ruling in May while they considered the appeal.

More than 500 same-sex couples were married before justices suspended Piazza's ruling.

The court heard oral arguments in the case in November, but the state is asking for a new hearing before justices. The couples argued that the stay issued is depriving gay couples of their rights.

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