Arkansas, Mississippi Gay Marriage Bans Overturned

Federal judges have overturned Arkansas and Mississippi state bans on gay marriage, but both orders are on hold so the states can consider appeals.

Arkansas' Democratic Attorney General Dustin McDaniel is reviewing the ruling and will decide after Thanksgiving whether to appeal in consultation with incoming Republican Attorney General-elect Leslie Rutledge.

Mississippi officials have already said they plan to appeal the ruling against their state's law.

Mississippi's governor and the attorney general each filed written arguments asking the judge to uphold the state's marriage rules.

But U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves wrote in his ruling against Mississippi's law, "Though we cherish our traditional values, they must give way to constitutional wisdom."

Mississippi has a 1997 law and a 2004 voter-approved state constitutional amendment that define marriage as being between a man and a woman.