Iowa Is Full of Win.

(x-posted from US of J)

In a rare bit of good news, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled today in favor of marriage equality:

Iowa became the first state in the Midwest to approve same-sex marriage on Friday, after the Iowa Supreme Court unanimously decided that a 1998 law limiting marriage to a man and a woman was unconstitutional.

The decision was the culmination of a four-year legal battle that began in the lower courts. The Supreme Court said same-sex marriages could begin in Iowa in as soon as 21 days.

You know, it’s actually really nice to begin a morning with positive news and not the usual fare, which is mostly just depressing/prone to filling me with existential despair.

(photo used under a creative commons license from flickr user McMorr)

Jamelle

Jamelle Bouie is a writer for Slate. He has also written for The Daily Beast, The American Prospect and The Nation. His work centers on politics, race, and the intersection of the two.

You can find him on Twitter, Flickr, and Instagram as jbouie.

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  • I can only assume that a paucity of black people in Iowa is why this sort of thing happened. Iowa ain’t Cali, huh?

    But no, really, here’s a money quote from the opinion:

    “[W]ith respect to the subject and purposes of Iowa’s marriage laws, we find that the plaintiffs are similarly situated compared to heterosexual persons. Plaintiffs are in committed and loving relationships, many raising families, just like heterosexual couples. Moreover, official recognition of their status provides an institutional basis for defining their fundamental relational rights and responsibilities, just as it does for heterosexual couples. Society benefits, for example, from providing samesex couples a stable framework within which to raise their children and the power to make health care and end-of-life decisions for loved ones, just as it does when that framework is provided for opposite-sex couples. In short, for purposes of Iowa’s marriage laws, which are designed to bring a sense of order to the legal relationships of committed couples and their families in myriad ways, plaintiffs are similarly situated in every important respect, but for their sexual orientation.”

    Common sense rules the day in Iowa. Kudos.

  • Joanie

    weee! Will Iowa become a model for other states?

    Unfortunately,
    “The Vermont House has advanced a bill that would allow gay couples to marry.

    The bill has already cleared the state Senate. It passed on Thursday in a 95-52 House vote — enough for approval but not enough to override a promised veto by Republican Gov. Jim Douglas.”

    (ABC News)

  • Steve

    LOL you know … I almost applied to Iowa Law but I was like umm no…

    shoot…I could have a husband a farm house and mad dogs … LOL

  • ladyfresshh

    Go Iowa!

    (There’s members of my family frownin though)

  • Kia

    I’ve never been to Iowa but the couple of Iowans I’ve known have been progressive types. I thought that was why they had flown the coop but between this and selecting Obama during their caucus I better re think my position!