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• LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- An Arkansas judge has opened the door for gay couples in Arkansas to wed, ruling that the state's ban on same-sex marriage has "no rational reason" for preventing gay couples from marrying.
• Pulaski County Circuit Judge Chris Piazza ruled Friday that Arkansas' 2004 voter-approved amendment to the state constitution violates the rights of same-sex couples. He didn't put his ruling on hold as some judges have done in other states, and it's possible gay couples could begin seeking marriage licenses Saturday, if they can find a clerk willing to issue them.
• In striking down the ban, Piazza wrote that it is "an unconstitutional attempt to narrow the definition of equality."
• "The exclusion of a minority for no rational reason is a dangerous precedent," he said in his ruling.
• State Attorney General Dustin McDaniel's office said he would appeal the ruling and asked Piazza to suspend it during that process.
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• WASHINGTON (AP) -- The pro-gay rights rulings of Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy have been a key spark in the march toward legalized gay marriage. To counter the trend, same-sex marriage opponents now are seizing upon other opinions by Kennedy himself.
• It was Kennedy who last month defended the right of voters to decide sensitive issues, in a ruling that upheld Michigan's ban on taking race into account in college admissions.
• At least five states have invoked Kennedy's opinion in the Michigan case to argue that voters and elected officials, not judges, should choose whether same-sex couples can be married or have their marriages recognized within their borders.
• "This case is not about how the debate about same-sex marriage should be resolved. It is about who may resolve it," Tennessee's governor and attorney general said in an appellate brief filed Thursday, using language lifted almost word for word from Kennedy's Michigan opinion.

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