Iowa Supreme Court strikes ban on same sex marriage

Yeah, and this is Iowa. I may be wrong, but I never exactly thought of Iowa as, you know, revolutionary or counter-culture or groundbreaking or something like that. Certainly not the place, at any rate, to declare homosexual marriage bans unconstitutional.Definitely good news.

This ruling makes in unconstitutional on due process and equal protection.The california ruling said that the statutes were unconstitutional because homosexual marriage was a fundamental right.I would think the two courts are making two different arguments. Of course, I would have thought the bit about being a fundamental right would have been strong enough, but it seems it wasn't (although this probably plays a role in the current appeal against prop 8? that voters can't so easily re-write rights, that the process is more complex and difficult to achieve?).Reading the Iowa constitutional amendment process, it looks to be more difficult to actually amend than in California. If I understand right, it has to be proposed and accepted in one legislative term, accepted again in the following term, and then is put to a vote before the people.Doesn't mean it won't happen, but I don't see how this process can take any less than two years (they won't have a general assembly election until '10). And just where will we be in two years? Perhaps people will have seen that homosexual marriage doesn't actually destroy marriage, that it's not the end of the world, that it's actually not bad and is acceptable.This is in contrast to California, where apparently all you need is enough people to sign your petition to put an amendment up for a vote in the upcoming election.

I thought so too. But I'm now reading that such an amendment won't be available for a vote until 2012. Or four years down the road (well, technically 3.5 years, but hey).Either way, good news indeed.

Perhaps not the right thread, but:
Sweden apparently legalized same-sex marriage on april fool's day. The law goes into effect on the first of may. While it doesn't grant homosexuals the right to marry per se, it strikes the use of gender in the marriage laws with the effect of opening the door to same-sex couples to get married. I'm not sure if I've actually seen the bill, but everything I've read in swedish so far suggests this to be the case. At any rate, come may, same sex marriage is legal in sweden.Same-sex marriage in Sweden - Wikipedia.Since the timing is so close to the Iowa decision, I thought it vaguely appropriate to put it here.Embarrassing that I'm just now finding out about it. I mean, I live in Sweden right now!

you're good, man.I've actually been here since august supposedly studying. I say supposedly because the uni system is so far easier than CU, which is crazy.

In a first in the nation case, Vermont has legalized same-sex marriage through the legislative process (the others, as we all know, are thanks to court action).Their house and senate overrode the veto.http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/gay_marriage_vermontSo now you can get married if you are homosexual in Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Iowa.