WASHINGTON -- After the Supreme Court heard arguments about the constitutionality of same-sex marriage bans Tuesday, two Arkansans faced the cameras and the crowd to speak about the historic case.
Chad Griffin, raised in Hope, and Josh Duggar, raised in Tontitown, each lead advocacy groups on opposite sides of the issue and were on hand to witness the debate inside the chamber and address the at-times raucous crowd that gathered outside.
The justices considered two questions: whether the Constitution requires states to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples and whether states must recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states where they are legal. A decision is expected in June.
It could potentially help determine a challenge to Arkansas' 2004 constitutional amendment and preceding statute that both barred same-sex marriage, a case that is pending before the state Supreme Court.
In May, Pulaski County Circuit Judge Chris Piazza struck down the state's gay-marriage ban as unconstitutional. The ruling was stayed after several hundred same-sex couples were wed in the state. The Arkansas Supreme Court heard oral arguments Nov. 20 but has not ruled.
After Tuesday's arguments, Griffin, who is president of the pro-gay-marriage Human Rights Campaign, said in an interview that he is optimistic.
"An historic day, no question. Now it's in the hands of nine justices, and in the weeks to come we'll know their decision," Griffin said. "I believe that someday very, very soon same-sex couples all across the country, including in my own home state of Arkansas, are going to have the right to marry the person they love."
The justices repeatedly questioned "what is the justification to deny same-sex parents in this country, of which there are thousands upon thousands in every single state including Arkansas, how could you deny those children, those families the equal protection to the laws that are brought about by marriage?" Griffin said. "Our opponents cannot answer that question. They struggle because there is no answer."
Speaking from a podium in front of the U.S. Supreme Court Building, Duggar, who is executive director of FRC Action, told gay-marriage opponents that the court should leave it to states to define marriage.
FRC Action is the legislative arm of the Family Research Council. Duggar, who gained national attention as the oldest of the Duggar children on 19 Kids and Counting, is an Arkansan living in Washington.
"It was never the intention of our founders for the court to step in in this manner and go past its bounds. We have the opportunity to stand together today to call on the court to defend the right of the people to vote on this very controversial issue," Duggar said.
Duggar compared the case heard Tuesday to the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide, saying a court ruling invalidating state same-sex marriage laws would be a political point of contention for decades.
"We have to look long-term. We have to stand up to defend the American family and that's what's at stake here. The people of every state should remain free to uphold the marriage as the union of a man and a woman if they so choose," Duggar said. "The court has the opportunity to affirm today what these states and many others did in preserving marriage in their state constitution."
Several Arkansans were among the crowd of hundreds who waited for hours outside the U.S. Supreme Court Building during oral arguments, waving flags and chanting slogans.
Sitting in a wheelchair on a corner just outside the protests, Cheryl Maples, 65, of Searcy watched as people streamed past to join the crowd. Maples is the attorney who brought the gay-marriage case pending before Arkansas' Supreme Court.
"I feel sorry for people who can't see this is about love and they are about hate," Maples said pointing to protesters who oppose gay marriage. "This is the right thing and there needs to be this change."
Maples said she is confident the U.S. Supreme Court will rule in their favor.
"I feel like we are going to win," she said, noting that the Supreme Court didn't temporarily stay federal court rulings favoring gay marriage.
"It has been permitting those and has been for months and they can't undo them," she said.
At one point, Maples was lifted onto a podium so she could address the crowd. Later when the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington, D.C., sang the national anthem, tears streamed down her face.
"It's been an amazing experience," she said. "The turnout here is phenomenal, the mood of the people is wonderful, and I really pity these people on the side that are just against happiness."
Two plaintiffs in Arkansas' case, Linda Meyers, 48, and Angie Shelby, 48, of Vilonia, said they came to Washington for a reception with several other plaintiffs and jumped at the chance to stand in the crowd.
"There's just so many rights that we miss out on, there's just so much inequality. We feel less than, we feel like we are being judged all the time and just to have the affirmation and to have the Supreme Court say that we're a family too is just worth it," Meyers said.
They got married in Eureka Springs during the week same-sex marriages were allowed in Arkansas. Shelby said she wants their kids to know "that our family matters just as much as any other family."