A sentence from the Iowa Supreme Court's decision on gay marriage, and an excellent question. The Iowa Supreme Court came to the obvious conclusion: it can't. The court filed a unanimous decision today, voiding the Iowa statute that limits civil marriage (and I'm sure you can guess, given my earlier post on this topic, that I'm thrilled with the specification of civil marriage) to "a union between a man and a woman" as a violation of the Iowa Constitution's equal protection clause, effectively legalizing gay marriage in the state. Way to go, Iowa!
The trend that seems to be developing around this issue is interesting: the courts are ahead of the curve (i.e. state legislatures, the national government and in some unfortunate cases, our fellow citizens) on what exactly "equality" means today. And hopefully we won't see a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage show up on the ballot in Iowa the way we did in California - and Arizona and Florida, although only California's supreme court ruled on the issue - last fall.
The decision is actually a pretty interesting read. (No, I'm not in the habit of reading court decisions, but I was curious! ...and I'm only on page 20 of 69.) It addresses the fluid history of "equality" in the United States and cites multiple instances in which Iowa has been well ahead of the national standard: admitting women to the bar, outlawing slavery, ruling against segregation - and now allowing gay couples to marry. One of my favorite quotes:
"The framers of the Iowa Constitution knew, as did the drafters of the United States Constitution, that 'times can blind us to certain truths and later generations can see that laws once thought necessary and proper in fact serve only to oppress,' and as our constitution 'endures, persons in every generation can invoke its principles in their own search for greater freedom' and equality."Let's hope the rest of the country takes a lesson.
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3 comments:
Wow way to go Iowa!!! That's very comforting to hear. Do you know what's going on with the California amendment? I heard something about it going to the CA Supreme Court but I don't know what happened there. Since I haven't heard anything that's probably not a good sign...
we already saw a constitutional amendment trying to ban gay marriage. right after the initial case and the appeal a part of the constituency tried that. the legislature let it drop in the first round of considerations for the ballot. it never even got to a vote. i agree, let's hope nothing like what happened in cali happens here, but since it already failed once i have confidence that it won't happen again.
Gina - The CA Supreme Court heard arguments on the Prop. 8 case on March 5th, and their decision will be handed down within 90 days of that date. Nothing yet, though. Fingers crossed!
Claire - Your state continues to amaze me! ;) And now that you mention it, I remember you talking about the attempted ban before. Must be nice to be an Iowan today!
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