I was taken by surprise by this news, and as a supporter of gay marriage, I'm happy to read that the unanimous verdict by the Iowa State Supreme Court included the following:
“We are firmly convinced the exclusion of gay and lesbian people from the institution of civil marriage does not substantially further any important governmental objective....We have a constitutional duty to ensure equal protection of the law.”
The Court based it's decision on the following clause of the Iowa Constitution:
All laws of a general nature shall have a uniform operation; the general assembly shall not grant to any citizen or class of citizens, privileges or immunities, which, upon the same terms shall not equally belong to all citizens.You can read the news story here: Iowa Court Voids Gay Marriage Ban - NYTimes.com
Some basic Q & A about the ruling and what may happen next can be found at http://civilliberty.about.com/od/gendersexuality/tp/Iowa-Same-Sex-Marriage-Ruling.htm
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