Gay Marriages in Iowa
Gay pairs sue for marriage rights in Iowa Ann Rostow, PlanetOut Network
Tue Dec 13, 8:17 PM ET
SUMMARY: The Des Moines case increases to seven the states seeing major litigation for marriage equality, and one religious-right pundit is worried.
Lambda Legal has opened a new front in the legal fight for marriage equality, suing the registrar of Polk County, Iowa, on Monday on behalf of six same-sex couples.
In addition to the Iowa case, gay advocates are litigating major marriage suits in six states -- Washington, New Jersey, New York, California, Maryland and Connecticut. The Washington case was argued before the state Supreme Court in March, and a decision is expected at any time. In New Jersey, Lambda Legal will face the state's high court early next year. The cases in New York and California are at the state appellate level, while the Maryland and Connecticut cases are still in the trial courts.
As for their prospects, Christian conservative Matt Daniels, president of the Alliance for Marriage, recently told Focus on the Family's newsletter writers that the fight for equal marriage rights is looking good for the LGBT side.
"They've already succeeded in Massachusetts," he warned. "And I expect that in the relatively near future -- six months to a year maximum -- they will also succeed in New Jersey, Washington state and quite possibly New York." Other court watchers have been more hesitant to handicap the various cases, calling the Washington suit a toss-up.
All these suits are confined to state courts; as a result, the final outcomes may not be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Indeed, the community's top lawyers hope to delay an eventual high court showdown on marriage rights until more legal victories can be established at the state level and until public opinion can improve.
Lambda's 16-page petition for declaratory judgment, filed Monday in Des Moines on state constitutional grounds, makes the standard case for marriage rights and introduces six couples, three female and three male. The couples represent committed life partners of varying ages and professions who recently tried and failed to obtain marriage licenses at the county registrar.
Under Iowa law, "only marriage between a male and a female is valid." However, the state has not passed a law specifically banning recognition of out-of-state same-sex marriages, and an anti-marriage constitutional amendment died in the state Senate last spring. Iowa requires two successive votes in two legislative sessions before an amendment can be sent to voters, meaning that an initiative begun next year could not reach voters before 2008.
Although the state does not ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, it does include sexual orientation in its hate crime statute, and it does not have any laws against gay adoptive or foster parents.
In addition, the Iowa Supreme Court in June implicitly backed a judge who granted a request of two local women to dissolve their Vermont civil union. The justices rejected an attempt by conservative lawmakers to challenge the decision, ruling that they lacked standing to do so.
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Tue Dec 13, 8:17 PM ET
SUMMARY: The Des Moines case increases to seven the states seeing major litigation for marriage equality, and one religious-right pundit is worried.
Lambda Legal has opened a new front in the legal fight for marriage equality, suing the registrar of Polk County, Iowa, on Monday on behalf of six same-sex couples.
In addition to the Iowa case, gay advocates are litigating major marriage suits in six states -- Washington, New Jersey, New York, California, Maryland and Connecticut. The Washington case was argued before the state Supreme Court in March, and a decision is expected at any time. In New Jersey, Lambda Legal will face the state's high court early next year. The cases in New York and California are at the state appellate level, while the Maryland and Connecticut cases are still in the trial courts.
As for their prospects, Christian conservative Matt Daniels, president of the Alliance for Marriage, recently told Focus on the Family's newsletter writers that the fight for equal marriage rights is looking good for the LGBT side.
"They've already succeeded in Massachusetts," he warned. "And I expect that in the relatively near future -- six months to a year maximum -- they will also succeed in New Jersey, Washington state and quite possibly New York." Other court watchers have been more hesitant to handicap the various cases, calling the Washington suit a toss-up.
All these suits are confined to state courts; as a result, the final outcomes may not be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Indeed, the community's top lawyers hope to delay an eventual high court showdown on marriage rights until more legal victories can be established at the state level and until public opinion can improve.
Lambda's 16-page petition for declaratory judgment, filed Monday in Des Moines on state constitutional grounds, makes the standard case for marriage rights and introduces six couples, three female and three male. The couples represent committed life partners of varying ages and professions who recently tried and failed to obtain marriage licenses at the county registrar.
Under Iowa law, "only marriage between a male and a female is valid." However, the state has not passed a law specifically banning recognition of out-of-state same-sex marriages, and an anti-marriage constitutional amendment died in the state Senate last spring. Iowa requires two successive votes in two legislative sessions before an amendment can be sent to voters, meaning that an initiative begun next year could not reach voters before 2008.
Although the state does not ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, it does include sexual orientation in its hate crime statute, and it does not have any laws against gay adoptive or foster parents.
In addition, the Iowa Supreme Court in June implicitly backed a judge who granted a request of two local women to dissolve their Vermont civil union. The justices rejected an attempt by conservative lawmakers to challenge the decision, ruling that they lacked standing to do so.
Copyright © 2005 Planet Out.
*** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material the
use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright
owner. This Internet discussion group is making it available without
profit to group members who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the
understanding of literary, educational, political, and economic
issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. I
believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material
as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish
to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go
beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright
owner, in this instance, Planet Out.
For more information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
To discuss this in more detail, go to our Social_Issues_Forum
posted by Patrick Townson at 11:56 PM
1 Comments:
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