Same-sex marriage in Iowa
Encyclopedia
Same-sex marriage in the U.S. state
of Iowa became legal on April 3, 2009.
Iowa
's first dealings with same-sex marriage
came in 1998, after recent court cases on same-sex unions, starting in Hawaii
, found that denying the right to marry to same-sex couples was incompatible with the Equal Protection Clause
of the state constitution
s of most states. Iowa legislators hurried to pass a local Defense of Marriage Act
to prohibit marriage between gay and lesbian couples to avoid a similar court challenge.
In 2005, Lambda Legal
filed a lawsuit on behalf of six Polk County
same-sex couples and their children who were denied marriage licenses in Iowa, arguing that this denial
violated the liberty and equal protection clauses in the state constitution. In 2007, the Polk County District Court ruled in favor of the couples, prompting the county to appeal to the Iowa Supreme Court
. On April 3, 2009, the Iowa Supreme Court unanimously upheld the District Court's ruling
holding that there was no important governmental interest
in denying citizens marriage licenses based on their sexual orientation
. Licenses were originally to be available 21 days after the ruling, on April 24, but the availability of licenses was subsequently postponed until April 27 due to a Furlough day.
Within two hours after the District Court ruling was published, two men from Des Moines
submitted an application for marriage to the county recorder; their application was accepted. The next morning, several other couples applied for marriage licenses before Hanson's stay. Iowa marriage law requires a three-day waiting period between the initial application for a marriage license and the time the marriage becomes official, unless this waiting period is waived by a judge. Sean Fritz and Tim McQuillan, residents of Ames
and students at Iowa State University
, were the only couple to receive such a waiver before Hanson issued his stay order. After receiving the waiver and applying for a marriage license on the morning of August 31, the couple was married in a short ceremony that morning by a Unitarian Universalist minister on the minister's front lawn in Des Moines.
Two other Ames residents who applied for a marriage license before the stay, Terry Lowman and Mark Kassis, were married on September 2 in a ceremony at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Ames. Lowman and Kassis' three-day waiting period was waived by a judge, however Hanson's stay occurred before the couple was able to record the marriage license. However, it is legal opinion that the marriage is legal within Iowa.
An amendment was first proposed in 2008 but did not pass. The Legislature did not vote on a constitutional amendment in 2009, and Senate Majority Leader Michael Gronstal
said he would not allow one to be brought to the floor in 2010 either. In a joint press release with House Speaker Pat Murphy
on April 3, 2009, Gronstal welcomed the court's decision, saying "When all is said and done, we believe the only lasting question about today’s events will be why it took us so long. It is a tough question to answer because treating everyone fairly is really a matter of Iowa common sense and Iowa common decency. Iowa has always been a leader in the area of civil rights.”
Democratic leaders of Iowa Senate
and Iowa House of Representatives
during the 2009-2010 legislative session opposed a vote on an amendment.
But on February 1, 2011, with Republicans in a majority in the Iowa House, the House passed House Joint Resolution 6 by a vote of 62-37. The resolution next moves to the Senate, where Democratic leaders have again promised to block debate.
Same-sex marriage could also be banned via constitutional convention. Iowa voters can initiate a convention once a decade, which opens up the whole constitution for revision. The November 2, 2010 vote on this question resulted in not enough votes to initiate the convention.
, out-of-state marriages of same-sex couples are recognized in Iowa. It is not clear whether or not out-of-state civil unions and registered domestic partnerships will be recognized in Iowa.
, Missouri
and Nebraska
.
An August 2011 Public Policy Polling
survey found that 46% of Iowa voters thought that same-sex marriage should be legal, while 45% thought it should be illegal and 9% were not sure. A separate question on the same survey found that 70% of Iowa voters supported the legal recognition of same-sex couples, with 40% supporting same-sex marriage, 30% supporting civil unions but not marriage, 29% favoring no legal recognition and 2% not sure.
. The three judges did no campaigning on their own behalf, but were supported by numerous third parties.
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Iowa became legal on April 3, 2009.
Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
's first dealings with same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....
came in 1998, after recent court cases on same-sex unions, starting in Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
, found that denying the right to marry to same-sex couples was incompatible with the Equal Protection Clause
Equal Protection Clause
The Equal Protection Clause, part of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, provides that "no state shall ... deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws"...
of the state constitution
State constitution (United States)
In the United States, each state has its own constitution.Usually, they are longer than the 7,500-word federal Constitution and are more detailed regarding the day-to-day relationships between government and the people. The shortest is the Constitution of Vermont, adopted in 1793 and currently...
s of most states. Iowa legislators hurried to pass a local Defense of Marriage Act
Defense of Marriage Act
The Defense of Marriage Act is a United States federal law whereby the federal government defines marriage as a legal union between one man and one woman. Under the law, no U.S. state may be required to recognize as a marriage a same-sex relationship considered a marriage in another state...
to prohibit marriage between gay and lesbian couples to avoid a similar court challenge.
In 2005, Lambda Legal
Lambda Legal
Lambda Legal is an American civil rights organization that focuses on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender communities as well as people living with HIV/AIDS through impact litigation, education, and public policy work.Lambda's founder William J. Thom, Esq...
filed a lawsuit on behalf of six Polk County
Polk County, Iowa
Polk County is a county located in the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 430,640 in the 2010 census, an increase from 374,601 in the 2000 census. The county seat is Des Moines, which is also the capital city of Iowa...
same-sex couples and their children who were denied marriage licenses in Iowa, arguing that this denial
Denial of request
Denial of request is the refusal of one party to grant the request of another. Some acts that can be considered denial may include the refusal of a person or a group of people representing a company, organization, or government agency to provide what a client or one seeking to be a client has...
violated the liberty and equal protection clauses in the state constitution. In 2007, the Polk County District Court ruled in favor of the couples, prompting the county to appeal to the Iowa Supreme Court
Iowa Supreme Court
The Iowa Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Iowa. As constitutional head of the Iowa Judicial Branch, the Court is composed of a Chief Justice and six Associate Justices....
. On April 3, 2009, the Iowa Supreme Court unanimously upheld the District Court's ruling
Varnum v. Brien
Varnum v. Brien, 763 N.W.2d 862 , is an Iowa court case in which six same-sex couples filed suit against Timothy Brien, Polk County Recorder, for refusing to grant marriage licenses to them...
holding that there was no important governmental interest
Intermediate scrutiny
Intermediate scrutiny, in U.S. constitutional law, is the second level of deciding issues using judicial review. The other levels are typically referred to as rational basis review and strict scrutiny ....
in denying citizens marriage licenses based on their sexual orientation
Sexual orientation
Sexual orientation describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. By the convention of organized researchers, these attractions are subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality,...
. Licenses were originally to be available 21 days after the ruling, on April 24, but the availability of licenses was subsequently postponed until April 27 due to a Furlough day.
2007 Polk County ruling
Judge Robert Hanson of Polk County District Court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage on August 30, 2007. The next morning, Hanson issued a stay of his decision pending an appeal to the Iowa Supreme Court.Within two hours after the District Court ruling was published, two men from Des Moines
Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines is the capital and the most populous city in the US state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small portion of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857...
submitted an application for marriage to the county recorder; their application was accepted. The next morning, several other couples applied for marriage licenses before Hanson's stay. Iowa marriage law requires a three-day waiting period between the initial application for a marriage license and the time the marriage becomes official, unless this waiting period is waived by a judge. Sean Fritz and Tim McQuillan, residents of Ames
Ames, Iowa
Ames is a city located in the central part of the U.S. state of Iowa in Story County, and approximately north of Des Moines. The U.S. Census Bureau designates that Ames, Iowa metropolitan statistical area as encompassing all of Story County, and which, when combined with the Boone, Iowa...
and students at Iowa State University
Iowa State University
Iowa State University of Science and Technology, more commonly known as Iowa State University , is a public land-grant and space-grant research university located in Ames, Iowa, United States. Iowa State has produced astronauts, scientists, and Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners, along with a host of...
, were the only couple to receive such a waiver before Hanson issued his stay order. After receiving the waiver and applying for a marriage license on the morning of August 31, the couple was married in a short ceremony that morning by a Unitarian Universalist minister on the minister's front lawn in Des Moines.
Legislative proposals
A state constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage has been proposed several times in the state legislature in the wake of the judicial rulings. To amend the constitution, two consecutive sessions of the legislature will need to approve the amendment, after which it would be placed on the ballot for final approval by the Iowa electorate.An amendment was first proposed in 2008 but did not pass. The Legislature did not vote on a constitutional amendment in 2009, and Senate Majority Leader Michael Gronstal
Michael Gronstal
Michael E. Gronstal is the Iowa State Senator representing the 50th District in the Iowa Senate. He has served since 1985 and is currently the majority leader and chairman of the Rules and Administration committee...
said he would not allow one to be brought to the floor in 2010 either. In a joint press release with House Speaker Pat Murphy
Pat Murphy (Iowa politician)
Patrick Joseph "Pat" Murphy is the Iowa State Representative from the 28th District. He is a former Speaker of the Iowa House. He also previously served as Minority Leader from 2003-07. Murphy is a Democrat and has served in the Iowa House since winning a special election in 1989...
on April 3, 2009, Gronstal welcomed the court's decision, saying "When all is said and done, we believe the only lasting question about today’s events will be why it took us so long. It is a tough question to answer because treating everyone fairly is really a matter of Iowa common sense and Iowa common decency. Iowa has always been a leader in the area of civil rights.”
Democratic leaders of Iowa Senate
Iowa Senate
The Iowa Senate is the upper house of the Iowa General Assembly. There are 50 members of the Senate, representing 50 single-member districts across the state with populations of approximately 59,500 per constituency. Each Senate district is composed of two House districts...
and Iowa House of Representatives
Iowa House of Representatives
The Iowa House of Representatives is the lower house of the Iowa General Assembly. There are 100 members of the House of Representatives, representing 100 single-member districts across the state with populations of approximately 29,750 for each constituency...
during the 2009-2010 legislative session opposed a vote on an amendment.
But on February 1, 2011, with Republicans in a majority in the Iowa House, the House passed House Joint Resolution 6 by a vote of 62-37. The resolution next moves to the Senate, where Democratic leaders have again promised to block debate.
Same-sex marriage could also be banned via constitutional convention. Iowa voters can initiate a convention once a decade, which opens up the whole constitution for revision. The November 2, 2010 vote on this question resulted in not enough votes to initiate the convention.
Economic impact
A UCLA study has analyzed the impact of allowing same-sex couples to marry on Iowa’s state budget. The study concluded that allowing same-sex couples to marry will result in a net gain of approximately $5.3 million each year for the State. This net impact will be the result of savings in expenditures on state means-tested public benefit programs and an increase in state income and sales tax revenue.Out-of-State Unions
According to the Associated PressAssociated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
, out-of-state marriages of same-sex couples are recognized in Iowa. It is not clear whether or not out-of-state civil unions and registered domestic partnerships will be recognized in Iowa.
Statistics
Between April 2009 and March 2010, 2,020 same-sex couples were married in Iowa, accounting for 10.1% of total marriages conducted in the state during that period. Only 815 couples were from Iowa, with the rest being from out of state, predominantly from neighboring IllinoisIllinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
and Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
.
Public opinion
A 2010 survey found that support for same-sex marriage in Iowa was 44%, the only state with same-sex marriage in which support was below 50%. Support in Iowa has increased from below 30% in 1994-96, and from below 40% in 1997-98. A January 2010 survey found that greater than 60% of Iowans agreed that same-sex marriage "does not deserve the Legislature's limited time" in the 2010 session, a truncated session in which legislation was introduced to overturn the same-sex marriage decision. This followed a previous September 2009 poll which found 41% support for and 40% opposition to a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, and that 92% of respondents said "marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples had led to 'no real change' in their own lives."An August 2011 Public Policy Polling
Public Policy Polling
Public Policy Polling is an American Democratic Party-affiliated polling firm based in Raleigh, North Carolina. PPP was founded in 2001 by businessman and Democratic pollster Dean Debnam, the firm's current president and chief executive officer...
survey found that 46% of Iowa voters thought that same-sex marriage should be legal, while 45% thought it should be illegal and 9% were not sure. A separate question on the same survey found that 70% of Iowa voters supported the legal recognition of same-sex couples, with 40% supporting same-sex marriage, 30% supporting civil unions but not marriage, 29% favoring no legal recognition and 2% not sure.
2010 Elections
On November 2, 2010, Iowa Supreme Court justices David Baker, Michael Streit, and Marsha Ternus, who participated in the unanimous 2009 ruling that Iowa could not deny marriage licenses based on sexual orientation, were removed from office after judicial retention elections. Their removal followed campaigning by groups opposed to same-sex marriage including the National Organization for MarriageNational Organization for Marriage
The National Organization for Marriage is a nonprofit political association established in 2007 to work against legalization of same-sex marriage in the United States, specifically to pass California Proposition 8 banning same-sex marriage in California...
. The three judges did no campaigning on their own behalf, but were supported by numerous third parties.
See also
- Varnum v. BrienVarnum v. BrienVarnum v. Brien, 763 N.W.2d 862 , is an Iowa court case in which six same-sex couples filed suit against Timothy Brien, Polk County Recorder, for refusing to grant marriage licenses to them...
- LGBT rights in IowaLGBT rights in IowaThe establishment of LGBT rights in the U.S. state of Iowa is a recent phenomenon, with most advances in LGBT rights taking place since 2007...
- Same-sex marriage in the United StatesSame-sex marriage in the United StatesThe federal government does not recognize same-sex marriage in the United States, but such marriages are recognized by some individual states. The lack of federal recognition was codified in 1996 by the Defense of Marriage Act, before Massachusetts became the first state to grant marriage licenses...
- Same-sex marriage legislation in the United StatesSame-sex marriage legislation in the United StatesIn response to court action in a number of states, the United States federal government and a number of state legislatures passed or attempted to pass legislation either prohibiting or allowing same-sex marriage or other types of same-sex unions.-Federal level:...
- Same-sex marriage status in the United States by stateSame-sex marriage status in the United States by stateSame-sex unions have been on the political radar in the United States since the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled in 1993 that denying licenses to same-sex partners violated the Hawaii constitution unless there is a "compelling state interest." Since Massachusetts became the first state to legalize...
External links
- Full text of Iowa Supreme Court ruling in Varnum v. Brien Opinion in fast loading form
- Official summary of Supreme Court ruling in Varnum v. Brien
- Full text of Judge Hanson's ruling in Varnum v. Brien
- One year later, gay marriage repeal appears to be on backburner, The Iowa Independent, April 1. 2010.