An Iowa district court has ruled that the state's marriage laws violate state constitutional equal protection guarantees.
The two groups that appear to be most directly involved in this effort are One Iowa, which focuses specifically on marriage equality, and Equality Iowa, which deals with LGBT rights issues across the board. Both groups would probably welcome volunteers.
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The District Court is Right
Under the Fourteenth Amendment and other equal protection standards, all arbitrary discrimination, regardless of the basis of that discrimination, is unconstitutional.The Ruling is Not Yet Binding
The judge who delivered the ruling has issued a stay, and the case is being appealed to the Iowa Supreme Court. If the Iowa Supreme Court concurs with the district court ruling, then the ruling will formally take effect.What Can I Do to Help?
The matter is in the hands of the Iowa Supreme Court right now, but if the court does not overturn the district court's ruling, things will get very hectic, very fast. If you're interested in doing activism on this issue, now is the time to get on board so you'll be in the loop and ready to respond when needed.The two groups that appear to be most directly involved in this effort are One Iowa, which focuses specifically on marriage equality, and Equality Iowa, which deals with LGBT rights issues across the board. Both groups would probably welcome volunteers.
What Happens Next?
If the Iowa district court ruling is not overturned by the state supreme court, then the Iowa state legislature has three options:- Revise marriage laws to include same-sex couples, as was done in Massachusetts. This would be the quickest and most sensible option, but it's probably unlikely; a majority of Iowans oppose same-sex marriage.
- Establish a civil unions law that grants enough rights to same-sex couples to satisfy the equal protection standard, as was done in New Jersey and Vermont. This is probably the most likely of the three options, since Iowans, like most Americans, tend to support civil unions but oppose same-sex marriage.
- Pass a constitutional amendment overruling the district court's decision entirely, as was done in Hawaii during the 1990s. Any such amendment would have to pass both houses of the Iowa state legislature and then be approved by voters in a statewide referendum. This seems unlikely; a similar referendum was defeated in Arizona last year, and if the Iowa state legislature were amenable to such an amendment, it would have already passed one.
