![Beth Moore, Abby Hill, Jeremy Hernandez Beth Moore, Abby Hill, Jeremy Hernandez](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/arkansas-gay-marriage_dock.jpg?quality=85&w=2400)
The Arkansas Supreme Court suspended a judge’s ruling that struck down the state’s gay marriage ban Friday, stopping the distribution of marriage licenses to hundreds of gay couples.
Pulaski County Circuit Judge Chris Piazza struck down a 2004 amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman last week and expanded his ruling on Thursday to include all state laws banning gay marriage. The counties named in the lawsuit asked justices to stay Piazza’s ruling as they appeal.
The Supreme Court denied a request on Wednesday to stay his initial ruling, but effectively halted gay weddings when they pointed out a separate law that forbids clerks from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples was still on the books. Piazza’s Thursday ruling rejected the state’s request to put his decision on hold saying that gay couples would be harmed by such action. Counties resumed issuing licenses.
Over 450 same-sex couples had received marriage licenses since Piazza’s ruling, according to USA Today. Friday’s ruling put a halt to the licenses again, according to the Associated Press. Meanwhile, a resolution by Republicans to invalidate the licenses issued to same-sex couples failed before a legislative panel on Friday.
Gay marriage is currently legal in seventeen states.
[AP]
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Inside Elon Musk’s War on Washington
- Why Do More Young Adults Have Cancer?
- Colman Domingo Leads With Radical Love
- 11 New Books to Read in February
- How to Get Better at Doing Things Alone
- Cecily Strong on Goober the Clown
- Column: The Rise of America’s Broligarchy
- Introducing the 2025 Closers
Write to Eliana Dockterman at eliana.dockterman@time.com