Breaking: Iowa ‘One Man, One Woman’ Language Stricken
April 3rd, 2009
The Iowa Supreme Court has just issued a landmark, unanimous ruling in Varnum v. Brien, a case involving six same-sex couples who sought and were denied marriage licenses in Iowa.
Consequently, the language in Iowa Code section 595.2 limiting civil marriage to a man and a woman must be stricken from the statute, and the remaining statutory language must be interpreted and applied in a manner allowing gay and lesbian people full access to the institution of civil marriage.
The ruling will go into effect in 21 days. Unless lawmakers immediately take up the matter, the earliest time for opposition action would be 2012.
Source: Des Moines Register
This has very special meaning for me.
90 years ago, my grandparents had to cross the state line from Nebraska to Iowa in order to marry. He was Japanese, she was Spanish, and they met as chauffeur and cook for a wealthy Omaha family. When they fell in love, they discovered that Nebraska did not allow interracial marriages. But even back then, Iowa had more progressive laws.
Now, 90 years later, if I want to marry my partner, I too could end up going to Iowa.
This probably could happen within the next 90 years here in Asia. I could be gone by then. But I do hope it can happen here one day. The question is when.