Iowa's first married gays
This is just in, it appears that the Iowa Supreme Court has paved the way for that state to become only the third in the country to allow gay people the civil right to marry. Although I’m not sure what the practical implications of the ruling are as of yet.
In the opinion, justices determined the statutory ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional because Polk County “has been unable to identify a constitutionally adequate justification for excluding plaintiffs from the institution of civil marriage.”
“Consequently, the language … limiting civil marriage to a man and a woman must be stricken from the statute, and the remaining statutory language must be interpreted and applied in a manner allowing gay and lesbian people full access to the institution of civil marriage,” the opinion states.
Justices also ruled that a separate institution, such as civil unions, that would offer relationship recognition but not marriage to same-sex couples would be “equally suspect and difficult to square with the fundamental principles of equal protection embodied in our constitution.”
“We are firmly convinced the exclusion of gay and lesbian people from the institution of civil marriage does not substantially further any important governmental objective,” the opinion says. “The legislature has excluded a historically disfavored class of persons from a supremely important civil institution without a constitutionally sufficient justification.”
A full PDF version of the court’s ruling can be found here. I’m not sure if this means that as of now gay marriage is officially legal in Iowa, but if there are any legal eagles out there maybe you could explain it to the rest of us.
I must say that I am surprised to see this development coming out of Iowa. Who knew that they were on the cutting edge of the civil rights movement? I am ashamed to say that before this, my impression of Iowa was much like this video (apologies in advance to any Iowans out there):
…AND GAYS!!!
Posted by garychapelhill 
