A group that supports gay marriage wants to repeal Amendment 83 to the Arkansas Constitution, which defines marriage as between one man and one woman and prohibits other arrangements from having the legal status of marriage.
Arkansans for Equality - a nonprofit group founded in 2012 - submitted a proposed constitutional amendment, popular name and ballot title on Thursday to Democratic Attorney General Dustin McDaniel’s office for review.
The group submitted its proposal one day after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the portion of the federal 1996 Defense of Marriage Act that defines marriage as being between a man and a woman but stopped short of declaring that state bans on gay marriage are unconstitutional.
The group’s proposed popular name is Repeal of Arkansas Marriage Amendment, and its proposed amendment states that “Amendment 83 to the Arkansas Constitution is hereby repealed.”
Among other things, the group’s proposed ballot title says Amendment 83, which passed overwhelmingly in 2004, limits the ability of the state to recognize civil unions and other relationships substantially similar to marriage.
As attorney general, McDaniel reviews the popular name and ballot title of proposed ballot measures. He determines whether the language of those provisions accurately reflects the content of the proposal in a way not misleading to voters. The name and title are what voters see on the ballot.
If McDaniel certifies the group’s proposal, Arkansans for Equality will have until July 7, 2014, to gather 78,133 signatures of registered voters in the state to qualify the proposed amendment for the Nov. 4, 2014, general election ballot, said Alex Reed, a spokesman for Republican Secretary of State Mark Martin.
“We are not asking for anything other than basic human rights, and because of that, I feel quite optimistic,” said Judd Mann of North Little Rock, co-chairman of Arkansans for Equality.
“After the Supreme Court ruling, we were excited and optimistic that the rest of the nation was ready to embrace marriage equality,” he said.
Asked about the group’s chances of collecting the required signatuers, Mann said, “Realistically, we are in the Bible Belt.”
He added that he’s been surprised by the support that his group has received so far.
Jerry Cox, president of the Family Council - a conservative lobbying group that led the campaign to persuade voters to approve Amendment 83 - said he doubts Arkansans for Equality’s chances of success are very good.
Cox said he doesn’t believe public opinion has changed very much in Arkansas since 75 percent of voters approved the gay-marriage ban; more than 200,000 people signed a petition to put that proposed amendment on the ballot.
Republican gubernatorial candidates Asa Hutchinson of Rogers and Curtis Coleman of Little Rock and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mike Ross of Prescott said they oppose repealing Amendment 83.
Bud Jackson, a spokesman for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill Halter of North Little Rock, said Thursday night that Halter was traveling and he was unable to reach him about his stance on the proposed constitutional amendment.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Debra Hobbs of Rogers could not be reached for comment on her cell phone or reached by e-mail late Thursday.
Arkansas, Pages 9 on 06/28/2013