On August 30, the Iowa District Court for Polk County issued a 63-page decision in Varnum v. Brien. The ruling affirms that same-sex couples must be allowed to marry based on the guarantee of equal treatment under the law contained in the Iowa Constitution.
Congratulations to Lambda Legal which filed Varnum v. Brien on behalf of six same-sex couples and their families in the Hawkeye State.
"This decision brings to life the Iowa Constitution's promise of equality for same-sex couples and their families in Iowa," said Camilla Taylor, Senior Staff Attorney in Lambda Legal's Midwest Regional Office in Chicago.
In striking down Iowa's Defense of Marriage Act, Judge Robert Hanson called the law "mean spirited," and he ordered the Polk County Recorder's office to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. An appeal to the Iowa Supreme Court is expected. Iowa became the ninth state involved in a "gay marriage" lawsuit Dec. 13 when the homosexual organization Lambda Legal filed a suit on behalf of six same-sex couples.
Less than two hours after a judge struck down Iowa's decade-old marriage ban a Des Moines gay male couple, David Curtis Rethmeier, 29, who was listed as the bride and Gary Allen Seronko, 51, as his groom applied for a marriage license. County officials said they expected to see more same-sex couples doing the same on Friday.
Polk County Judge Robert Hanson cleared the way for lesbian and gay Iowans to marry when he ruled that a state law allowing marriage only between a man and woman violated the constitutional rights of due process and equal protection.
The judge ordered local officials to process marriage licenses for the six gay couples who sued. With the ruling, gay couples across the state can now apply for a marriage license in the central-Iowa county.
County attorney John Sarcone said the county would appeal to the state Supreme Court, and he immediately sought a stay from Hanson that would prevent gay couples from seeking a marriage license until the appeal is resolved.
A hearing on the stay motion is likely next week, said Camilla Taylor, an attorney with Lambda Legal, a New York-based gay rights organization.
In the meantime, Deputy County Recorder Trish Umthun is taking calls from gay couples; five of them in the first hours after the judge filed his ruling Thursday afternoon.
The office's web site explaining how to apply for a marriage license still began with the words, ``Marriages in Iowa are between a male and a female ...,'' on Friday morning, but Umthun expected a rush of applications through the day. The marriage license approval process takes three business days.
Republican House Minority Leader Christopher Rants said the ruling illustrates the need for a state constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.
``I can't believe this is happening in Iowa,'' Rants said. ``I guarantee you there will be a vote on this issue come January,'' when the Legislature convenes.
Gay marriage is legal in Massachusetts, and nine other states have approved spousal rights in some form for same-sex couples. Nearly all states have defined marriage as being solely between a man and a woman, and 27 states have such wording in their constitutions, according the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Dennis Johnson, the lawyer for the six gay couples who sued in 2005 after they were denied marriage licenses, had argued that Iowa has a long history of aggressively protecting civil rights in cases of race and gender.
The Defense of Marriage Act, which the Legislature passed in 1998 declaring marriage to be between one man and one woman, contradicts previous rulings regarding civil rights and is simply ``mean spirited,'' he said.
In December 2005, Lambda Legal filed a lawsuit with the Polk County Court on behalf of six same-sex couples who were denied marriage licenses in Iowa, arguing that denying marriage to same-sex couples violates the equal protection and due process guarantees in the Iowa Constitution, and prevents these couples from taking care of each other and their children. Today's decision comes after a hearing in May of this year where both sides made arguments before the court.
The plaintiffs in this case include: Kate, 34, and Trish Varnum, 42, of Cedar Rapids, who have been in a committed relationship for nearly seven years. In addition to the Varnums are David Twombley, 66, and Larry Hoch, 65, of Urbandale, both retired teachers who have been in a committed relationship for over six years; Dawn and Jen BarbouRoske, 39 and 37 respectively, of Iowa City, who have been together for more than 17 years and their two children, McKinley, 9, and Breeanna, 5; Ingrid Olson, 29, and Reva Evans, 33, of Council Bluffs, who have been together for nearly 10 years and their son, Jamison, 1; Jason Morgan, 37, and Chuck Swaggerty, 35, of Sioux City, who have been together for 10 years; and Bill Musser, 49, and Otter Dreaming, 50, of Decorah, who have been together for over six years.
Camilla Taylor and Kenneth Upton Jr., Senior Staff Attorneys at Lambda Legal are handling the case. They are joined by former Iowa Solicitor General Dennis Johnson of Dorsey and Whitney in Des Moines.
Roger J. Kuhle, an assistant Polk County attorney, argued that the issue is not for a judge to decide.
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Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney from the only state which now has marriage in place in same sex couples was the first to seize on the ruling, promptly aligning himself with Iowa political leaders in denouncing the decision.
Romney of course was trying to bolster the conservative image his campaign has been working hard to promote. Romney stressed his retrogressive support for a federal amendment that would ban same-sex marriage, a stand that distinguishes him from his top rivals, who have somewhat more thoughtfully said they prefer to leave such decisions to the states.
Spouting the usual rhetoric of backward looking pols Romney said that, "The ruling in Iowa ... is another example of an activist court and unelected judges trying to redefine marriage and disregard the will of the people as expressed through Iowa's Defense of Marriage Act. This once again highlights the need for a Federal Marriage Amendment to protect the traditional definition of marriage as between one man and one woman."
While Romney is willing to generally leave it to states to decide how to set up health care coverage plans, in his effort to pander to the conservative voters he shows his penchant for inconsistency by taking the position that it shouldn't be left to states to decide same-sex marriage issues.
"It's a status that lasts a lifetime. And so, if somebody is married in one state and they move to another state, that status travels with them. And so, if you have gay marriage in one state, whether you want it or not, you have gay marriage in all states," Romney told reporters after speaking at a Greenville, S.C., restaurant.
Romney failed to state why that would be such a major problem that we would have to amend enshrine discrimination in our nation's laws.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who has not found it politically pragmatic to support full marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples but does support civil unions, was the first Democrat to offer a reaction. Taping an appearance on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" Friday, Clinton again expressed her support for civil unions "with full equality of benefits."
"The states have always determined age of marriage, other conditions and over time we've gotten rid a lot of discrimination that used to exist in marriage laws," Clinton said. "That's now happening. People are making decisions. Civil unions, marriage. They're deciding in the states and I think that's the appropriate place for that to be."
Most Democratic candidates have voiced support for same-sex civil unions, they have declined to back full equality, a stance that has riled many gay supporters.
A spokesman for Democrat Barack Obama said the senator "believes these matters should be left to the states, which is why he opposes the Defense of Marriage Act."