Iowa! IOWA!Now I just have to ask, what the hell is wrong with us, Wisconsin, when Iowa beats us to the pro gay marriage ruling?
But heck, we'll take all the victories we can get, nation and worldwide. You know what they say about Iowa being a sort of bellwether for the rest of the country, right? Well, let's hope that it rings true in this case, too.
My deepest congratulations to all of the Iowa couples who've finally won a fuller--and long overdue-- equality in their state.
"The decision strikes the language from Iowa Code section 595.2 limiting civil marriage to a man and a woman. It further directs that the remaining statutory language be interpreted and applied in a manner allowing gay and lesbian people full access to the institution of civil marriage."YES!
(photo by mattindy77 on Flickr)
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8 comments:
this is one of the most amazing things i have ever seen. it amazes me that Iowa of all places is jumping on the equality bandwagon. i heard somewhere that there can't be a constitutional amendment overturning this until 2012. maybe this time there will be enough time to show that society will not implode if we give GLBT people the same rights as everyone else. i hope we (Wisconsin) can take a lesson from Iowa and tag along. at the very least, since we live so close, giving support to the cause there by helping/being an activist to help change people's perceptions in Iowa is the least we can do. the next step for Iowa is to prove to the population that a constitutional amendment like the one in California shouldn't follow this most happy of days. This reply is jumbled, mainly because i'm still reeling from the news. i didn't even know the Iowa supreme court was reviewing this. YAY!
Agreed. And yes, no constitutional amendment to re-ban gay marriage in Iowa could come up until 2012, as it requires approval from two sessions of the Legislature and then a yes vote from citizens, and the earliest timing of such a scenario would be 2012.
Perhaps by that point, though, people will have seen how gay marriage has done NO HARM to their state or society--more likely, it will have benefited. And, hopefully, more states will have followed suit by then as well.
I am so proud of Iowa today, and all of the people across the world who keep fighting this good fight, despite some daunting odds.
I knew I liked Iowans; I worked there briefly during the 2004 presidential caucus and found them to be mostly very fair-minded, taking their status as "first deciders" quite seriously (even though I disagreed with their choice in 2004).
Andrew Sullivan, in his blog at The Atlantic, has offered really good coverage of this for a couple of weeks now.
excuse my ignorance if i'm out of the loop and this has already been started, but shouldn't we be trying to get the Wisconsin Supreme Court to look at same-sex marriage in Wisconsin? again, maybe people already are, and i'm just not hearing about it.
X - No pardon needed. There hasn't been much (public) activity on this front here in Wisconsin since the initial challenges to the ban were overturned last year--at least as far as I can see.
But I have no doubt that there are many people and organizations working toward the end. It's just that most of it is likely happening behind the scenes at the moment. I am confident that the issue will come up again and that, eventually, Wisconsin and the rest of the US will come around to full equality.
Lets not forget but it was also Iowa that started Obama's march to the Whitehouse.
I didn't even know the Iowa supreme court was reviewing this.
Here's a superb take on the 2007 district court decision the Iowa Supreme Court was asked to review.
update:
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090423/NEWS10/904230387
apparently, some judges in Iowa are refusing to perform ANY marriages in response to the legalization of same-sex marriage. just sad, really. it should be part of their job description, not a discretionary part of the job.
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