Democracy Has Prevailed.

April 3, 2009

In The Heartland

Iowa.

In this Democratically leaning swing state, it's happening. From KCCI in Des Moines:
The Iowa Supreme Court announced its ruling in a landmark same-sex marriage case Friday morning.

The justices ruled unanimously in favor of six same-sex couples who sought to get marriage licenses, but were denied.

The 69 page ruling means same-sex couples in Iowa can now get married under state law. The ruling said that the Iowa statute limiting civil marriage to a union between a man and a woman violates the equal protection clause of the Iowa Constitution.
KCCI has a link to the ruling and the summary. From the Summary:
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 legislature has excluded a historically disfavored class of persons from a supremely important civil institution without a constitutionally sufficient justification. There is no material fact, genuinely in dispute, that can affect this determination.

We have a constitutional duty to ensure equal protection of the law. Faithfulness to that duty requires us to hold Iowa’s marriage statute, Iowa Code section 595.2, violates the Iowa Constitution. To decide otherwise would be an abdication of our constitutional duty. If gay and lesbian people must submit to different treatment without an exceedingly persuasive justification, they are deprived of the benefits of the principle of equal protection upon which the rule of law is founded. Iowa Code section 595.2 denies gay and lesbian people the equal protection of the law promised by the Iowa Constitution.
The Summary went into some detail, for instance, addressing the idea that banning same-sex marriage was necessary to maintain "traditional" marriage. The issue of religious opposition was addressed in the summary as well:
Having addressed and rejected each specific interest articulated by the County, the court addressed one final ground believed to underlie the same-sex marriage debate—religious opposition. Recognizing the sincere religious belief held by some that the “sanctity of marriage” would be undermined by the inclusion of gay and lesbian couples, the court nevertheless noted that such views are not the only religious views of marriage. Other, equally sincere groups have espoused strong religious views yielding the opposite conclusion. These contrasting opinions, the court finds, explain the absence of any religious-based rationale to test the constitutionality of Iowa’s same-sex marriage statute. “Our constitution does not permit any branch of government to resolve these types of religious debates and entrusts to courts the task of ensuring government avoids them . . . . The statute at issue in this case does not prescribe a definition of marriage for religious institutions. Instead, the statute, declares, ‘Marriage is a civil contract’ and then regulates that civil contract . . . . Thus, in pursuing our task in this case, we proceed as civil judges, far removed from the theological debate of religious clerics, and focus only on the concept of civil marriage and the state licensing system that identifies a limited class of persons entitled to secular rights and benefits associated with marriage.” [emphasis in original]
I am guessing there are more than a few people in Iowa for which this:


has new meaning today.

Congratulations, Iowa.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...
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Dayvoe said...

Previous comment deleted on account of suspected malware.

Sherry Pasquarello said...

i think it's woderful.

Conservative Mountaineer said...

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

Phil said...

A strong victory for civil rights! Well done, Iowa!

Dayvoe said...

Mountaineer;

Can you do me a favor? Read the court's opinion and let us know what it is you think is wrong.

I read the summary and it addresses a number of the objections to gay marriage (tradition, faith, and so on). So if the opinion is wrong, what does it address incorrectly or what did it miss?

plynth said...

Iowa State Motto: "Our Liberties We Prize and Our Rights We Will Maintain." Iowa may just be living up to their motto. Me? Born in Des Moines.

webegeeks said...

Iowa has shown sincere, intelligent interpretation of Iowa law and shows that America can put constitutional intent into actual practice. I hope (but sincerely doubt) the rest of the country will take notice and act accordingly. I have a sibling who is gay and with the same partner for 20 years, and to deny them the same opportunity as straight couples is terribly wrong headed, cruel, and in my opinion, prejudiced.

Billy said...

Dayvoe, I can answer for Mountaineer. What the courts failed to appreciate is that several otherwise heterosexual people (of which I assume Mountaineer is one) have been the targets of the gay agenda for their whole lives. Gay people have been trying to turn them homosexual using all kinds of propaganda, enticement, and witchcraft. If we as a culture start to accept the homosexuals are, in fact, human beings and born with inalienable rights, there would be nothing to prevent these otherwise heterosexual people from giving in to their darker impulses.