Judge Validates Over 500 Same-Sex Marriages in Arkansas

The couples who married during a weeklong equality window are legally wed, a judge rules.

Neal Broverman

Neal Broverman is the Editorial Director, Print of Pride Media, publishers of The Advocate, Out, Out Traveler, and Plus, spending more than 20 years in journalism. He indulges his interest in transportation and urban planning with regular contributions to Los Angeles magazine, and his work has also appeared in the Los Angeles Times and USA Today. He lives in the City of Angels with his husband, children, and their chiweenie.

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Neal Broverman

June 09 2015 6:45 PM EST

June 19 2018 12:41 AM EST

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Even with a Supreme Court decision on national marriage equality expected in weeks, a judge in Arkansas ordered the state to recognize more than 500 same-sex marriages performed for one week in May last year, the Associated Press reports.

In his ruling, Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen affirmed marriage rights for the same-sex couples who wed after another judge tossed out Arkansas's marriage equality ban last year.

After state officials appealed the decision, the state Supreme Court waited a week to stay the ruling. In that week, between May 9 and May 15, more than 500 same-sex couples wed. The legality of these marriages was challenged by state officials including the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration Director Larry Walther.

In his ruling, Judge Griffen made his feelings about Walther clear: "With shameless disrespect for fundamental fairness and equality, [Walther] insists on treating the marriages of same-sex couples who received marriage licenses between May 9 and May 15 as 'void from inception as a matter of law.'"

The ruling means the approximately 500 couples will now be able to take full advantage of benefits only available to married couples, such as filing taxes jointly and enrolling together in insurance plans.