Activists on Tuesday will submit a 2016
ballot initiative which seeks to legalize gay marriage to the
Arkansas attorney general's office.
Arkansas Initiative for Marriage
Equality (AIME) co-founder Trey Weir and Brooks Cato, the deacon of
St. Paul's Episcopal Church of Newport, will speak briefly during a
news conference to be held on the front steps of the Arkansas state
Capitol.
A second group, Arkansas for Equality,
is working to repeal Amendment 83, the state's 2004 voter-approved
constitutional amendment limiting marriage to a heterosexual union.
Activists are looking to change the
state's definition of marriage with two referendums. One would
repeal the amendment in 2014, while the second would legalize gay
nuptials two years later.
According to a
Human Rights Campaign (HRC) poll of 600 adults conducted between
June 26 and June 30 and released on Monday, only 38 percent of
Arkansans support marriage equality. Fifty-five percent remain
opposed.
Last week, 11 gay and lesbian couples
filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Amendment 83.
(Related: Gay
couples sue for right to marry in Arkansas.)