The Iowa Supreme Court has unanimously decided to uphold gay individuals' right to marry. In a summary regarding the decision, the justices said, "The Iowa statute limiting civil marriage to a union between a man and a woman violates the equal protection clause of the Iowa Constitution."
Technically Iowa is the fourth state to allow gay marriages, preceded by Connecticut, Massachusetts and California. In regards to the latter state, well… you may have heard of this ridiculous thing called Proposition 8 that screwed that up. But let's not go there. This is monumentally good news! Iowa has become the first midwestern state to approve gay marriage.
As you may know, we're still working on Vermont and New Hampshire. Yesterday, the Vermont House of Representatives approved marriage equality with a 95-52 vote. Unfortunately, this isn't enough to override the planned veto by Governor Jim Douglas, but there is definitely still hope–a veto override will go through if both the Senate and the House can secure a two-thirds majority. Remain optimistic! As I'll say over and over again, every little step is one step closer to equality.
– Dewitt
Iowa? Iowa? Makes the west coast look pretty pathetic.
My partner and I lived in Des Moines for around 5 years and it’s one of the most liberal cities I’ve ever had the pleasure of residing in. We had a home in a sub-division and kissed each other hello/goodbye in the front yard all the time and no one had an issue with it. We also held hands in public quite often and never experienced any problems. Way to go Iowa!
It’s a good thing and a step in the right direction. Iowa’s still a lame ass prarie icebox of a state though!
Honestly I don’t see how Americans can claim to want freedom for people, wage war in other countries because we “want to bring freedom and foster world peace” and turn around and do some bullshit (not allow people in love to get married) like this in our own country. I could just go on forever about this but I’m gonna stop here.
That’s great news! And you are right, every little step help us get closer to equality.