# Iowa court strikes down anti-gay marriage law. Are the tides turning? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 3, 2009, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-court-strikes-down-anti-gay-marriage-law-are-the-tides-turning/491903 "2009-04-03T19:46:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2009, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-court-strikes-down-anti-gay-marriage-law-are-the-tides-turning/491903/81 "2009-04-06T22:56:52Z")
> [@JXJohns](#): > > I presume, that even with this ruling in place that it will be difficult for a homosexual couple to thrive in small town Iowa. As I mentioned earlier, the people haven’t changed overnight simply because of one ruling. While this ruling won’t immediately make it so everyone in Iowa has a positive attitude toward gay couples, it will make it manditory for those couples to be allowed to live there, as a married couple. People will hopefully start seeing gay couples and families as neighbors they run across on the PTA, not as aliens from the coasts, bent on destroying civilization. As someone who lived for several years in Iowa, with lots of friends and family in Iowa, I think some of those small towns and their attitudes would surprise you. ---
**Author:** ![JXJohns](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jxjohns/32/469_2.png) [@JXJohns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JXJohns)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2009, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-court-strikes-down-anti-gay-marriage-law-are-the-tides-turning/491903/82 "2009-04-07T01:06:29Z")
> [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](#): > > While this ruling won’t immediately make it so everyone in Iowa has a positive attitude toward gay couples, it will make it manditory for those couples to be allowed to live there, as a married couple. People will hopefully start seeing gay couples and families as neighbors they run across on the PTA, not as aliens from the coasts, bent on destroying civilization. > > As someone who lived for several years in Iowa, with lots of friends and family in Iowa, I think some of those small towns and their attitudes would surprise you. I’ve lived here most of my life, in small towns and big. I doubt if much would surprise me about the people here. People are people no matter where you go, good and bad. If you aren’t here now, you aren’t hearing the opposition and the hatred that they are spouting out on every available media source. I’ve heard everything from boycotts of businesses who support “them” getting married, to new anti-gay-marriage legislation to constitutional amendments. From the underwhelming voices of the supporters to the overwhelming garbage from the opposition, I have found very little to be proud of as of late. ---
**Author:** ![JayRx1981](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/71e660/32.png) [@JayRx1981](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JayRx1981)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2009, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-court-strikes-down-anti-gay-marriage-law-are-the-tides-turning/491903/83 "2009-04-07T02:42:36Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > I would be concerned for the culture shock. Maybe you ought to move to Kansas for a couple of years, _then_ to Iowa. Take it by stages, you know? Heh, I think the shock of going from making very good money to making no money and having to pull all-nighters (if my career dream comes true) will be more of a shock to the system than a switch from Ohio to Iowa would. ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2009, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-court-strikes-down-anti-gay-marriage-law-are-the-tides-turning/491903/84 "2009-04-07T03:03:21Z")
> [@Richard\_Parker](#): > > And Scalia argues that these kinds of laws aren’t even discriminatory, much less unconstitutionally discriminatory, because everyone–gay, straight, men, women–is prohibited from marrying someone of the same sex. In the context of outlawing gay sex, he writes that it isn’t discriminatory because “men and women, heterosexuals and homosexuals, are all subject to its prohibitions of deviate sexual intercourse with someone of the same sex.” I can understand Scalia’s argument, but it doesn’t help his side at all. The obvious consequence of this line of reasoning is that bans on same sex marriage discriminate based on sex, and that’s subject to stricter scrutiny than discrimination based on orientation! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-court-strikes-down-anti-gay-marriage-law-are-the-tides-turning/491903.md?page=4)