Iowa be first mid-wtern US state to legalise gay marriage | US news | The Guardian

Contents:

• ON THIS DAY 10 YEARS AGO, AN IOWA SUPREME COURT LG LEGALIZED GAY MARRIAGE THE STATE
• IOWA SUPREME COURT LEGALIZ GAY MARRIAGE
• IOWA GAY MARRIAG BEG AS LG TAK EFFECT
• GAY MARRIAGE
• IOWA SUPREME COURT LEGALIZ GAY MARRIAGE IOWA
• 2009 IOWA LG SEEN AS GAY-MARRIAGE HARBGER
• IOWA BE FIRST MID-WTERN US STATE TO LEGALISE GAY MARRIAGE

ON THIS DAY 10 YEARS AGO, AN IOWA SUPREME COURT LG LEGALIZED GAY MARRIAGE THE STATE

The Iowa Supreme Court on April 3, 2009, unanimoly overturned a 10-year-old outright ban on gay marriage the state and allowed same-sex upl to marry. Brien ma Iowa the third state the natn to tablish marriage lg tapulted the state to a growg nversatn around marriage equaly and rights for LGBTQ people that would not see a feral rolutn until the Supreme Court stck down gay marriage bans across the natn 2015. Iowans' llective views on legalizg gay marriage have steadily changed over the years, wh 46% of Iowa Poll rponnts ambivalent on the issue 1996 to 62% rpondg that marriage should only be between same-sex upl Febary 2014, 34% of rponnts to the Iowa Poll claimed to be disappoted that Iowa allowed same-sex marriage while 28% were proud of the cisn and 36% said didn't matter much to them.

Nearly eight years after the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage and several months after Congrs dified gay nuptials, Iowa legislators proposed banng such unns their state nstutn. The Iowa Supreme Court legalized gay marriage Friday a unanimo and emphatic cisn that mak Iowa the third state — and first the natn's heartland — to allow same-sex upl to wed. For six months last year, California's high urt allowed gay marriage before voters banned November.

"We are firmly nvced the excln of gay and lbian people om the stutn of civil marriage do not substantially further any important ernmental objective, " the Supreme Court wrote. "'It's a big w'The Iowa attorney general's office said gay and lbian upl n seek marriage licens startg April 24, once the lg is nsired fal. " D Mo attorney Dennis Johnson, who argued on behalf of gay and lbian upl, said "this is a great day for civil rights Iowa.

IOWA SUPREME COURT LEGALIZ GAY MARRIAGE

Separatn of powersThe se had been workg s way through the urts sce 2005, when Lambda Legal, a New York-based gay rights anizatn, filed a lawsu on behalf of six gay and lbian upl Iowa. John Logan, a soclogy profsor at Brown Universy, said Iowa's stat as a largely ral, Midwt state uld enforce an argument that gay marriage is no longer a ge issue. "But as extends to stat like Iowa, and as attus toward gay marriage have evintly changed, then people will look at as an example of broad acceptance, " Logan said.

Gay-marriage opponents have no other legal optns to appeal the se to the state or feral level bee they were not parti to the lawsu, and there is no feral issue raised the se, Sarne said. Senate Majory Lear Mike Gronstal, a Democrat, said state lawmakers were unlikely to nsir gay marriage legislatn this legislative ssn, which is expected to end wh weeks. Same-sex upl Iowa began filg marriage license applitns Monday after a state Supreme Court lg legalizg gay unns took effect, and the first legal gay weddgs took place shortly Keeton and Shelley Wolfe were clared "legally married" by pastor Pat Esperanaza durg a ceremony ont of Polk County admistrative offic D Mo.

IOWA GAY MARRIAG BEG AS LG TAK EFFECT

Wag for buildg to openIn D Mo, about a dozen gay and lbian upl waed the ra for the Polk County admistrative buildg to Lan, 35, and his partner Andrew Mahoney-Lan, 32, were first le.

GAY MARRIAGE

In eastern Iowa, Johnson County Rerr Kim Pater, Iowa's only openly gay rerr, said that when she saw the urt's claratn "we rolled open our wdows and we've been by. Same-sex upl Iowa began applyg for marriage license on Monday after a state Supreme Court lg legalizg gay unns took effect.

A nstutnal nventn uld be lled earlier, but that is 's same-sex marriage se began 2005 when Lambda Legal, a New York-based gay rights anizatn, sued on behalf of six gay and lbian Iowa has a history of beg at the foreont on social issu.

Early Years: Same-Sex Marriage Bans In 1970, jt one year after the historic Stonewall Rts that galvanized the gay rights movement, law stunt Richard Baker and librarian Jam McConnell applied for a marriage license Gerald Nelson rejected their applitn bee they were a same-sex uple, and a trial urt upheld his cisn. ” This lg effectively blocked feral urts om lg on same-sex marriage for s, leavg the cisn solely the hands of stat, which alt blow after blow to those hopg to see gay marriage beg 1973, for stance, Maryland beme the first state to create a law that explicly f marriage as a unn between a man and woman, a belief held by many nservative relig groups.

IOWA SUPREME COURT LEGALIZ GAY MARRIAGE IOWA

Though the gay rights movement saw some advancements the 1970s and 1980s—such as Harvey Milk beg the first openly gay man elected to public office the untry 1977—the fight for gay marriage ma ltle headway for many years. In 1989, the San Francis Board of Supervisors passed an ordance that allowed homosexual upl and unmarried heterosexual upl to register for domtic partnerships, which granted hospal visatn rights and other years later, the District of Columbia siarly passed a new law that allowed same-sex upl to register as domtic partners.

2009 IOWA LG SEEN AS GAY-MARRIAGE HARBGER

C., 1993, the hight urt Hawaii led that a ban on same-sex marriage may vlate that state nstutn’s Equal Protectn Clse—the first time a state urt has ever ched toward makg gay marriage Hawaii Supreme Court sent the se—brought by a gay male uple and two lbian upl who were nied marriage licens 1990—back for further review to the lower First Circu Court, which 1991 origally dismissed the the state tried to prove that there was “pellg state tert” jtifyg the ban, the se would be tied up ligatn for the next three Defense of Marriage Act Opponents of gay marriage, however, did not s on their hnch. Congrs 1996 passed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which Print Bill Clton signed to didn’t ban gay marriage outright but specified that only heterosexual upl uld be granted feral marriage benefs. That is, even if a state ma gay marriage legal, same-sex upl still wouldn’t be able to file e tax jotly, sponsor spo for immigratn benefs or receive spoal Social Secury payments, among many other act was a huge setback for the marriage equaly movement, but transient good news arose three months later: Hawaii Judge Kev S.

IOWA BE FIRST MID-WTERN US STATE TO LEGALISE GAY MARRIAGE

Phg for Change: Civil Unns The next saw a whirlwd of activy on the gay marriage ont, begng wh the year 2000 when Vermont beme the first state to legalize civil unns, a legal stat that provis most of the state-level benefs of years later, Massachetts beme the first state to legalize gay marriage when the Massachetts Supreme Court led that same-sex upl had the right to marry Goodridge v. The state fally troduced the untry to gay marriage (m the feral benefs) when began issug same-sex marriage licens on May 17, that year, the U.

Bh—that would outlaw gay marriage across the untry. 2004 was notable for upl many other stat as well, though for the oppose reason: Ten typilly nservative stat, along wh Oregon, enacted state-level bans on gay marriage.

Kansas and Texas were next 2005, and 2006 saw seven more stat passg Constutnal amendments agast gay towards the end of the , gay marriage beme legal var stat, cludg Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont (the first state to approve by legislative means) and New Hampshire.