By John Mack Freeman
Even on a holiday week, courts and governments are taking steps towards full marriage equality.
In Arkansas, US District Judge Kristine Baker ruled in favor of two same sex couples who challenged a 2004 amendment to the Arkansas Constitution that outlawed same sex marriage. The State Supreme Court in Arkansas is considering another case that is also challenging the ban. The effects of Judge Baker’s ruling was stayed pending a likely appeal.
Mississippi’s ban on same sex marriage was also overturned this week. The judge found that (via Talking Points Memo):
“The Fourteenth Amendment operates to remove the blinders of inequality from our eyes. Though we cherish our traditional values, they must give way to constitutional wisdom. Mississippi’s traditional beliefs about gay and lesbian citizens led it to defy that wisdom by taking away fundamental rights owed to every citizen. It is time to restore those rights.
“Today’s decision may cause uneasiness and concern about the change it will bring,” he wrote. “But “‘(t)hings change, people change, times change, and Mississippi changes, too.’ The man who said these words, Ross R. Barnett, Jr., knew firsthand their truth.”
The governor of Mississippi has already stated they will appeal (shocking no one).
In Finland, the legislature voted 105-92 in favor of non-gender based marriage. Technically, the vote was to amend the current law, but the effect is the same. Practically, this means that the first same sex marriages will take place in Finland in March 2017.
