In response to the passage of SB 202 by the Arkansas legislature, the American Civil Liberties Union; ACLU of Arkansas; Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders; Lambda Legal; and National Center for Lesbian Rights issued the following statement.
Today, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Lambda Legal filed a federal lawsuit against the Social Security Administration (SSA) on behalf of Dave Williams, a widower, formerly of Arkansas, now a Chicagoan, who was denied spousal benefits after the death of his husband, Carl Allen.
On May 9, 2014, Judge Chris Piazza, a state trial court judge in Arkansas, ruled that the state’s statutory and constitutional bans prohibiting marriage for same-sex couples violated the constitution of the United States, and had to be struck down.