Apr 3rd, 2009
Posted by Sam Ritchie, LGBT Project at 12:31am	LGBT Rights

Iowa Continues Tradition as Civil Rights Pioneer

Earlier today, the seven justices of the Iowa Supreme Court continued the state’s long history of pioneering civil rights by striking down a state law prohibiting same-sex marriages. In a unanimous decision, the Court declared that it was unconstitutional to bar gay and lesbian couples from marriage and ordered the state to grant same-sex couples the ability to marry.

Students of American history know that this decision is hardly surprising. As the Court noted in its decision, Iowa has long been WAY out in front on civil rights issues, often leading the rest of the country by years and even decades.

In its very first decision in 1839, the Supreme Court of the Territory of Iowa “refused to treat a human being as property to enforce a contract for slavery” and held that the state “must extend equal protection to persons of all races and conditions.” In 1869, the nation’s first female lawyer was admitted in Iowa, decades before U.S. Supreme Court decisions that actually upheld states’ rights to discriminate against women. And in 1873, 91 years before racial discrimination in public accommodations was struck down nationwide, Iowa justices ruled that a woman could not be prevented from entering an all-white dining room based on the color of her skin.

This victory is especially encouraging on the heels of recent legislative victories in Vermont and New Hampshire, where legislatures have passed bills that would legalize same-sex marriage, and developments in Illinois, Wisconsin and Washington, where pending legislation could provide rights for same-sex couples in the form of comprehensive civil unions.

Congratulations to the plaintiffs and justices for their work in bringing marriage equality to the Midwest. Once again, Iowa has set the example that the rest of the country will follow.

Permalink |	LGBT Rights

1. The Majority Says:
   Apr 4th, 2009 at 5:17am

   You see, although most people see this as a battle to protect the dignity of marriage between a man and a woman, it goes well beyond the apparant. just as radical ethnic gangsters espouse civil rights as thier goal, using members of thier ethnic community as soldiers in thier assault upon capitalism and Western civilization, so, too, do the radical socialist gays use homosexuals as thier footsoldiers.
   This radical movement was handed a stunning defeat in the polls in November 2004 not becuase the average voter understood the larger battle they were engaged in, but becuase on a deeply instincual level they understood tthis is the final battle for the survival of the FAMILY camouflaged in the somber tones of the civil rights struggle.

2. Paen Says:
   Apr 4th, 2009 at 1:49pm

   Where I live(Québec City) we have had Gay marriage for a while now and our churches are empty and people don't respect religion or the institution of marriage.Furthermore the once all powerful Catholic Church now has to import priests from the Third World in order service those empty churches.In other words things are absolutely the same as they were before Gays were allowed to be married.

3. steve Says:
   Apr 5th, 2009 at 5:29pm

   this is a SAD day for the civil rights movement! If God doesn't destroy this nation because of the perversion of homosexuality, than he owes a public apology to Sodom an Gommorah!

4. Anonymous Says:
   Apr 6th, 2009 at 1:08pm

   "You really ought to give Iowa a try -- provided you are contrary."

   -- Meredith Willson, "The Music Man," circa 1957

5. Paen Says:
   Apr 7th, 2009 at 2:56pm

   Personaly I think that the crazies on the right are much more likely to destroy America than either God or the gays.

6. TIMBO Says:
   Apr 7th, 2009 at 9:54pm

   I have said in the past that the ACLU stands for what is wrong in America and you have proven it.
   The last time I looked the majority rules in a democracy. We need to change our constitution like 28 other states have and not give in to sick thinking people. Just because the Supreme Court ruled UNANIMOUS doesn't mean they approve of Gay and Lesbian Marriages. They are saying the way the law was written was not done in a constitutional manner. Any legislator who fights giving the people of Iowa the opportunity to say how they feel about it with a Constitutional Amendment vote is most likely looking at either not running or certainly not winning reelection.
   I don't hate Gays or Lesbians, but I hate their practices because it is sin plain and simple.