Wow!

[emmagrant01]

Iowa court rules same-sex couples can marry

(CNN) -- An Iowa district court ruled Thursday that same-sex couples can marry based on the state constitution's guarantee of equal treatment, court documents show.

An Iowa district judge ruled in favor of same-sex marriage.

The ruling was in response to a December 2005 lawsuit brought by six same-sex couples seeking to wed. They were denied marriage licenses and claimed such treatment violates equal-protection and due-process clauses in the Iowa constitution.

The court also struck down a state law declaring valid marriages are only between a man and woman.

Comments

[fiona-fawkes.livejournal.com]

Now taking bets on how long it takes before Iowa rushes to change it's constitution.

[plaid-slytherin.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately that was my first thought upon reading the post. (Actually, I was surprised IA hadn't already done so.)

[plaid-slytherin.livejournal.com]

Iowa? Seriously? That's amazing. I'd never have guessed Iowa would be next!

PS

[lauralynn22.livejournal.com]

'Is this Heaven?'

'No, it's Iowa!'

[florahart]

I suppose there will be all sorts of rushing about to make this not stand, but I like that it even happened in the midwest.

[furiosity.livejournal.com]

[kerryblaze.livejournal.com]

Wow. Well, Iowa is a blue state, though I suspect that has more to do with unions and the farmers than with liberal views. But that's nine states now! YAY!

[thorinsmistress.livejournal.com]

I have totally been up too long - I read "unions and the farmers" as "onions and the farmers" and was super confused! LOL.

[scarlet-malfoy.livejournal.com]

YAYYYY!!!!!! That makes me so happy :D:D:D:D:D:D

[afadingvoice.livejournal.com]

Iowa eh? Pretty amazing. Let's hope that this sticks!

[jedirita.livejournal.com]

Woo-hoo!

[eireinn.livejournal.com]

Go Iowa.

[ciel-vert.livejournal.com]

In an attempt to not be as cynical about this as I am about most things: YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[valkyrie17.livejournal.com]

State by State...it's a slow process, but it is progress :)

[karadin.livejournal.com]

Yay!

Oh, there's nothing halfway
About the Iowa way to treat you,
When we treat you
Which we may not do at all.
There's an Iowa kind of special
Chip-on-the-shoulder attitude.
We've never been without.
That we recall.
We can be cold
As our falling thermometers in December
If you ask about our weather in July.
And we're so by God stubborn
We could stand touchin' noses
For a week at a time
And never see eye-to-eye.
But what the heck, you're welcome,
Join us at the picnic.
You can eat your fill
Of all the food you bring yourself.
You really ought to give Iowa a try.
Provided you are contrary,
We can be cold
As our falling thermometer in December
If you ask about our weather in July.
And we're so by God stubborn
We can stand touchin' noses
For a week at a time
And never see eye-to-eye.
But we'll give you our shirt
And a back to go with it
If your crops should happen to die.

Farmer:
So, what the heck, you're welcome,
Glad to have you with us.

Farmer and Wife:
Even though we may not ever mention it again.

Townspeople:
You really ought to give Iowa
Hawkeye Iowa
Dubuque, Des
Moines, Davenport, Marshalltown,
Mason City, Keokuk, Ames,
Clear Lake
Ought to give Iowa a try!

[dramedy.livejournal.com]

I...love you.

[karadin.livejournal.com]

;D

[shamelesslyrori.livejournal.com]

YAY! *dances* That surprises me, since when one thinks "Midwest," one generally thinks "violently red state." Good for them. (I'm a little rainbow dot in the violently red Indiana)

[loony-moony.livejournal.com]

HOLY CRAP. Hope it stays!

[dramedy.livejournal.com]

WHOOT! :D :D

[bouncy.livejournal.com]

*\o/* Score.

[vlredreign.livejournal.com]

I could be pessimistic about this, but I won't. It's a step, right?

[el-em-en-oh-pee.livejournal.com]

Iowa. Iowa. I would not have expected Iowa, but am stoked that it is!

[rabidpotterfan.livejournal.com]

Yay Iowa! It's nice to see something hopeful regarding gay marriage! :)

[phoenixsong71.livejournal.com]

OMG YAY!!!!! I'm originally from the midwest and I can't believe the next state to pass this would be Iowa. One step close to equality for ALL. *cheers*

[phaballa.livejournal.com]

\0/

A victory for Upfish!! Ironically, isn't Senator Craig from Iowa? Or is that Idaho?

[hazelhawthorne.livejournal.com]

Cool!

[kawaiililme.livejournal.com]

Bad news...The judge already ordered a stay. About 3 couples got in and got their licenses before that though. http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/08/31/iowa.samesex.ap/index.html
Apparently the county attorney requested the stay so that he can appeal the decision and the judge granted it.

[puppydifranco.livejournal.com]

*headdesk* -- thanks for posting

[kawaiililme.livejournal.com]

sorry it's bad news :o(

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Actually, 20 people got their licenses before the stay, and one couple got married according to this (http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/08/31/iowa.samesex.ap/index.html). There was speculation in the original article I linked that there would be a stay, so I'm not surprised. And I don't think it's bad news, to be honest. This is the way the legal process works. Even if it doesn't ultimately pan out, there's now a precedent. It's on the radar. It's a matter of time, really. Not that it wouldn't be great for it to come as soon as possible, but it will come eventually. :-)

[kawaiililme.livejournal.com]

Yeah I didn't pay too much attention to the exact numbers, sorry. I don't know about this counting as precedent. If I'm not mistaken, this decision was made in a district court, not the state supreme court. We had a similar case with removing "god" from the Pledge of Allegiance. The district court ruled that including "god" was a violation of the separation between church and state, the state supreme court (of CA) rejected that decision. The fact that this judge granted a stay seems to indicate that he's an honest judge who was ruling constitutionally but expects the state to overturn his decision. I expect he's probably right.

[sirius-my-luv.livejournal.com]

it was so nice to hear something like this happening, and then the stupid county attorney had to go and request a stay. to good for it to be true i guess...

bittersweet victory

[puppydifranco.livejournal.com]

so, I wrote this big long response and it ended up turning into a journal entry instead. Thanks for posting this article, and yay for Iowa!!

[peachdancer82.livejournal.com]

Its weird but one feels a jolt of of elation only then to feel the deflate of regret and remorse. For all those that continue with this tireless effort we won't except defeat and continue to trudge on, I'm happy to see some progress at least even if there was a Stay, but at least it is in the news again and more attention is being drawn to it. That is all we want attention so this dosn't get thrown under a rug and forgotten with the millions, i'm sure , of other pieces of legislature that never got passed or the constituants were paid off some how. Thanks for the update emma. :)

[ravyn-ashling.livejournal.com]

Oh, wow! My childhood friend and his boyfriend for four years live in Iowa. :D

[zentariana.livejournal.com]

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e140/Ghostgecko/tetris.gif
picture. :)

[lunadeath02.livejournal.com]

Just wondering, but are you a member of the GLBT group in Minneapolis? (you can screen this if you like) Because I am a part of a group here at my college, and my group (GSA) will be doing down to the MOCC (I can't remember what that stands for.. it's a thing were many of us GLBT groups get together)? I'm not a co-chair (vice president) of the one here in my college. Maybe we could meet up with each other during that? (I think it's Oct. 5, 6, and 7th) Thoughts?

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Was this comment meant for me? I live in Texas, actually. :-)

[lunadeath02.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm sorry. ^_^ I guess I read something wrong... I thought I had seen you say you were in Minneapolis for something. Maybe I'm remembering wrong.

Darn, I thought I would get to meet you. Sorry about that. Now I'm curious as to whom my brain was thinking of. *sigh*

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

I have no plans to go to Minneapolis in the near future, unfortunately. If you ever come to Texas, be sure to let me know!