Today is a big day on the marriage equality front.
First, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals will hear the nation’s oldest same-sex marriage case. A three-judge panel today will hear oral arguments in Bishop v. Smith (formerly Bishop v. U.S.), challenging a federal judge’s January ruling that found Oklahoma‘s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. The lead plaintiffs are Mary Bishop and Sharon Baldwin, shown above.
Freedom To Marry notes that the “lead plaintiffs, Mary Bishop and Sharon Baldwin, hail from Tulsa and have been together for 17 years. Another couple, Gay Phillips and Susan Barton, are legally married in Canada and have a civil union in Vermont, are also listed as plaintiffs.”
In that January ruling, United States District Judge Terence C. Kern demolished every argument the right uses against same-sex marriage. (You can read the best excerpts here.)
Also today, a state circuit court judge will hear arguments in a case attempting to overturn Arkansas’ constitutional ban on same-sex marriage that voters passed in 2004. The case, filed by 22 same-sex couples, including one couple wishing to be granted the right to divorce, is scheduled to begin at 2:00 PM EDT.
Stay tuned to The New Civil Rights Movement for reports on both cases as soon as they become available. And follow us on Twitter @GayCivilRights.
Image of Mary Bishop and Sharon Baldwin via OKC Pride and Oklahoma Marriage Equality Lawsuit