For approximately 500 same-sex couples married in the window between Judge Piazza striking down Arkansas' bans on gay marriage and the AR supreme court placing a stay on his ruling, their marriages have been legally uncertain - until today.
According to LGBTQ Nation, today
Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen validated marriage licenses that were issued to same-sex couples after another judge struck down the state’s gay marriage ban. The state Supreme Court halted the distribution of marriage licenses to gay couples after a week in May 2014 and is considering the appeal over a voter-approved same-sex marriage ban.
For all those couples, state offices have held their marriages were not legally binding. Today Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen ordered the state to recognize those marriages and assure the couples have access to all laws pertaining to other married couples in the state of Arkansas.
According to the article:
“Put simply, Judge Piazza’s intent in his May 9 order was to stop the state of Arkansas from prohibiting same-sex couples from being married,” he wrote.
With this order in place, Arkansas is positioned to recognize all newly married couples as well, once the SCOTUS confirms the rights of gay couples to marry in a few weeks. (Yes, I know I'm predicting the future, and possibly shouldn't do that, but...)
Congratulations to the 500 couples immediately affected and all those others who will soon be!
As soon as I can locate the decision itself, I will add an update with a link. The story was first published by the Associated Press here, but their article is compressed, and a little more difficult to read. I did not see a link to the ruling in that article either...
Update: (thank you for the link, sfbob) Via Equality Case Files, the judge's order is here.