# Same sex marriage legal in Iowa **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 31, 2007, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-sex-marriage-legal-in-iowa/417628 "2007-08-31T16:12:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-sex-marriage-legal-in-iowa/417628/1 "2007-08-31T16:12:17Z")
In a decision handed down yesterday, a judge in Iowa ruled that restricting marriage to opposite sex couples was unconstitutional and today marriage licenses are being issued to same sex couples. Of course, opponents will be appealing to the state supreme court but at least for now gay couples can wed! > **[Des Moines IA News and Weather - Iowa News - KCCI 8 News](https://www.kcci.com/)** > > Get the latest Des Moines news and weather. The KCCI news team brings you the best in local coverage and all the top stories from across the state. ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-sex-marriage-legal-in-iowa/417628/2 "2007-08-31T16:53:16Z")
Hey, I used to go to the Ames Unitarian church. Awesome. ---
**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:** [August 31, 2007, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-sex-marriage-legal-in-iowa/417628/3 "2007-08-31T16:53:28Z")
Good for them. Unfortunately, per your link, a stay was almost immediately issued. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-sex-marriage-legal-in-iowa/417628/4 "2007-08-31T16:56:37Z")
[QUOTE=Tastes of Chocolate] Good for them. Unfortunately, per your link, a stay was almost immediately issued. [/QUOTE] A stay was requested, but I don’t believe it has been granted yet. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-sex-marriage-legal-in-iowa/417628/5 "2007-08-31T17:20:05Z")
[QUOTE=Antinor01] A stay was requested, but I don’t believe it has been granted yet. [/QUOTE] It wasn’t updated when I looked before, but I see the stay has been issued now. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-sex-marriage-legal-in-iowa/417628/6 "2007-08-31T17:21:58Z")
[QUOTE=Antinor01] It wasn’t updated when I looked before, but I see the stay has been issued now. [/QUOTE] Bummer. I was all ready to say that in the state of my birth and the state of my residence, judges have brains. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-sex-marriage-legal-in-iowa/417628/7 "2007-08-31T17:27:09Z")
(glancing at tdn’s location) Iowa is part of Laurasia? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Bird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Little\_Bird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Bird)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-sex-marriage-legal-in-iowa/417628/8 "2007-08-31T17:48:32Z")
I heard about this, but didn’t know it had come to fruition. Yay! Red state my ass! ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-sex-marriage-legal-in-iowa/417628/9 "2007-08-31T17:50:58Z")
[QUOTE=Arnold Winkelried] (glancing at tdn’s location) Iowa is part of Laurasia? [/QUOTE] Yep. Iowa, Glascow, Moscow, Beijing – all in Laurasia. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-sex-marriage-legal-in-iowa/417628/10 "2007-08-31T17:57:28Z")
[QUOTE=Little Bird] I heard about this, but didn’t know it had come to fruition. Yay! Red state my ass! [/QUOTE] Don’t they usually go blue? ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-sex-marriage-legal-in-iowa/417628/11 "2007-08-31T18:03:33Z")
[QUOTE=tdn] Don’t they usually go blue? [/QUOTE] You’re thinking of Michigan. Ann Arbor, specifically. However I spent a month in Ottumwa and it _really_ blew. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-sex-marriage-legal-in-iowa/417628/12 "2007-08-31T18:12:50Z")
[QUOTE=Happy Lendervedder] You’re thinking of Michigan. Ann Arbor, specifically. [/QUOTE] No, I’m thinking Iowa. Looking it up, they went blue in 2000 and red in 2004. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-sex-marriage-legal-in-iowa/417628/13 "2007-08-31T18:34:56Z")
So how anyone wanna start taking bets on how long it’ll take the Iowa Supreme Court to overule the judge? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Kricket](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f14d63/32.png) [@Kricket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kricket)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-sex-marriage-legal-in-iowa/417628/14 "2007-08-31T18:40:33Z")
Yay us!! I might go down the rainbow district and have a drink on that one this weekend. I bet there’s going to be a party. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-sex-marriage-legal-in-iowa/417628/15 "2007-08-31T18:55:51Z")
[QUOTE=alphaboi867] So how anyone wanna start taking bets on how long it’ll take the Iowa Supreme Court to overule the judge? [/QUOTE] No state supreme court has ever overturned a lower court ruling in favor of same-sex marriage. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-sex-marriage-legal-in-iowa/417628/16 "2007-08-31T20:16:46Z")
[QUOTE=Otto] No state supreme court has ever overturned a lower court ruling in favor of same-sex marriage. [/QUOTE] AFAIK there’s only been once instance of a lower court ruling in favor of same-sex marriage (Goodridge v. Department of Public Health). And that ruling was based on a entirely different constitution. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-sex-marriage-legal-in-iowa/417628/17 "2007-08-31T20:40:14Z")
Constitutional ammendment in 5… 4… 3… 2… ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-sex-marriage-legal-in-iowa/417628/18 "2007-08-31T20:54:21Z")
I hope it’s upheld on appeal and they don’t get an amendment, not just so it’d be legal, but so it would be _Iowa._ Just like the fourth place in Canada was Yukon. It’s just so, yep, Iowa. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-sex-marriage-legal-in-iowa/417628/19 "2007-08-31T21:28:19Z")
[QUOTE=alphaboi867] AFAIK there’s only been once instance of a lower court ruling in favor of same-sex marriage (Goodridge v. Department of Public Health). And that ruling was based on a entirely different constitution. [/QUOTE] My wording was imprecise. New Jersey and Vermont have upheld lower court rulings requiring legal recognition of same-sex couples. Hawaii’s court overturned a lower court and, had a DOMA amendment not been passed, would have ordered the state to recognize marriages. My point still stands that the assumption that the Iowa supreme court will overturn this out of hand is not supported by history. ---
**Author:** ![Kneepants\_Erasmus\_the\_Humanist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/54ee81/32.png) [@Kneepants\_Erasmus\_the\_Humanist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kneepants_Erasmus_the_Humanist)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2007, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-sex-marriage-legal-in-iowa/417628/20 "2007-09-01T03:33:03Z")
Am I the only one who was somewhat extremely shocked by this news? _Iowa_, of all places! Hmm. 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-sex-marriage-legal-in-iowa/417628.md?page=2)