US judges overturn bans on gay marriage in two states

US district judges have struck down as unconstitutional same-sex marriage bans in Arkansas and Mississippi, separately overturning measures that voters approved a decade ago in both socially conservative Southern states.

Judges Kristine Baker in Little Rock, Arkansas, and Carlton Reeves in Jackson, Mississippi, ruled on Tuesday that the bans on gay marriage denied guarantees of equal protection under the law for gay couples.

The back-to-back decisions are the latest in a flurry of federal court rulings striking down measures across the United States defining marriage as exclusively between a man and a woman.

Both judges put enforcement of their rulings on hold in anticipation of appeals, meaning legal recognition of marriage for gay and lesbian couples is not imminent in either state.

Reeves said his ruling hinged on whether same-sex couples are capable of loving one another, being in committed relationships and being good parents, then rhetorically asked whether denying gays or lesbians the right to marry subjects them to humiliation and "state-sanctioned prejudice".

"Answering 'yes' to each of these questions leads the court to the inescapable conclusion that same-sex couples should be allowed to share in the benefits and burdens, for better or for worse, of marriage," he wrote.

The bans in both states were challenged by gay couples seeking the same marriage rights as opposite-sex couples.

Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant, a Republican, said he expects the state to appeal against Reeves' ruling, a spokesman said.

Injunction lifted

Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel, a Democrat, welcomed Baker's stay pending appeal, a spokesman said.

The decisions come days after the US Supreme Court lifted a temporary injunction to allow South Carolina to become the 35th US state where gay marriage has become legal.

The trend has gained momentum since the Supreme Court ruled last June that legally married same-sex couples nationwide are eligible for federal benefits, striking down a key part of the 1996 federal Defense of Marriage Act.

Reuters - AP