LITTLE ROCK — A federal judge on Monday scheduled a Nov. 20 hearing in a lawsuit challenging Arkansas’ same-sex marriage ban.

LITTLE ROCK — A federal judge on Monday scheduled a Nov. 20 hearing in a lawsuit challenging Arkansas’ same-sex marriage ban.

U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker scheduled the hearing in U.S. District Court in Little Rock to consider motions in a federal lawsuit brought by same-sex couples who allege the ban violates the U.S. Constitution. The plaintiffs are seeking summary judgment and the state is asking the judge to dismiss the lawsuit.

A Pulaski County circuit judge ruled May 9 in a separate lawsuit that the ban on gay marriage violates both the state and federal constitutions. The state Supreme Court stayed the ruling a week later, but in the meantime several hundred same-sex couples obtained marriage licenses in the state.

Attorney General Dustin McDaniel’s office is appealing that ruling to the state Supreme Court.