The Arkansas House didn’t heed Rep. Deborah Ferguson’s stirring call to, for once, “stand on the right side of civil rights” (past examples she cited—slavery, early opposition to women’s rights, seg laws). On a voice vote, the House approved a resolution reaffirming Arkansas’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage and supporting the federal Defense of Marriage Act.

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Because it’s important to acknowledge the people who’re fighting on the side of equality and justice in this utterly dispiriting General Assembly — even if futilely — we’ve excerpted Ferguson’s speech. Watch it. Share it with friends. It’s surely one of the best speeches this session. You can see the rest of the presentation of the resolution (without the clerk reading it in full) here.

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