Source: Des Moines Register, KAAL TV
Protesters in Iowa who joined the national protests last Saturday for marriage equality say they feel a particular sense of urgency because the Iowa Supreme Court takes up a case next month that will determine whether marriage for gay and lesbian couples is legal in that state
The debate is expected to thrust Iowa into the national spotlight one month after voters in California, Arizona, and Florida approved marriage equality bans.
Oral arguments are scheduled for Dec. 9, but the high court will probably take several months to issue a ruling, Des Moines Register reports.
Related in Qnews: Iowa legislature may tackle issue again as poll shows most Iowans favor civil unions, oppose gay marriage 3-Mar-08
Iowa protesters took to the streets Saturday in the Iowa cities of in Des Moines, Iowa City, and Decorah to call for marriage equality, according to KAAL TV. .
Tim Edwards and Jesse Driscoll of Des Moines live together as a couple even though Iowa law doesn't recognize their marriage.
After voters in California, Arizona, and Florida passed state marriage equality bans on Election Day, the two men were energized to join one of the rallies, according to the Register. They said they hoped to explain to Iowans why they think gay and lesbian couples should be free to marry.
"I personally am feeling more and more inspired as we go along," Edwards, 38, told the Des Moines Register. He owns a house with Driscoll, 32, his partner of seven years.
"This is the civil rights fight of our time," said State Sen. Matt McCoy, who spoke to a crowd of about 150 outside Des Moines' City Hall on Saturday.
Focus of marriage equality debate shifts to Iowa next month [contd.]
McCoy, a Democrat from Des Moines, favors equality in state marriage rules. But some top politicians, including Iowa Gov. Chet Culver, do not, according to the Register.
Opposition to gay marriage can be broken down in the same way that discrimination against interracial marriage was ended, Ben Stone of the American Civil Liberties Union told the audience.
"The way that civil rights moves forward is by all of you not stopping," Stone said, to applause.
The case that will be heard next month by the high court involves six same-sex couples who filed a lawsuit in Polk County, challenging the state definition of marriage as between a man and a woman.
Lawmakers approved Iowa's marriage law, the Defense of Marriage Act, in 1998.
The couples, represented by the gay rights group Lambda Legal, contend the law violates their rights to due process and equal protection established in the Iowa Constitution.
A Polk County judge sided with the couples in August 2007, but then suspended his ruling pending an appeal to the Iowa Supreme Court.
A nuanced discussion of the issues that are likely to come before the court was held earlier this month in a conference room of the Des Moines Register, when the newspaper invited advocates from both sides of the marriage equality debate to discuss the issues with the paper's editorial board.
The Register's web site includes several video clips of a spirited meeting among advocates on both sides of the equality debate.
Iowa's ban on marriage for gay and lesbian couples denies them the due process and equal protection rights that are afforded to heterosexual couples, gay rights advocates said in the meeting.
Social conservatives contend that gay marriage threatens the traditional union between a man and a woman. Gay rights advocates counter that opponents have not provided legal evidence to support that claim.
Chuck Hurley of the Iowa Family Policy Center said his group remains hopeful that the Iowa Supreme Court will overturn the lower-court ruling.
"The people of Iowa have not consented to a radical change in the definition of marriage being imposed on them by the courts and anti-family groups," Hurley said Tuesday.
Dennis Johnson, a lawyer for the same-sex Iowans, said married, straight couples benefit from 223 statutes in state law granting them various rights.
Source: Rallies push for 'marriage equality' | Des Moines Register
Gay marriage supporters, opponents prep for case | Des Moines Register
Locals Protest Proposition 8 | KAAL TV