Same-sex marriage in Iowa

In 1998, following court decisions on same-sex unions in other states that suggested that denying the right to marry to same-sex couples was incompatible with the equal protection clause of a state constitution like Iowa's, Iowa legislators who hoped to avoid a similar court challenge tried without success to pass a statute to prohibit same-sex marriages.[http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2010/12/iowas-governor-elect-wants-vote-to-ban-gay-marriage-criticizes-senate-leader/ Iowa's governor-elect wants vote to ban gay marriage, criticizes senate leader]

In February 2025, 33 Democratic lawmakers introduced legislation to replace all references to "a man and a woman" in marriage statutes to the gender-neutral phrasing "two eligible parties", thus officially incorporating the Varnum decision into statutory law.{{cite web|url=https://legiscan.com/IA/bill/HF671/2025|work=LegiScan|title=IA HF671 2025-2026 91st General Assembly|date=2025|access-date=March 18, 2025}}

{{Main|Varnum v. Brien}}

Six same-sex couples in Polk County represented by Lambda Legal sought the right to marry their same-sex partners in Iowa. They brought suit in 2005 arguing that denying them marriage licenses violated the liberty and equal protection clauses of the State Constitution. Judge Robert Hanson of Polk County District Court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs on August 30, 2007. The next morning, Hanson stayed his decision pending an appeal to the Iowa Supreme Court.{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |title=Iowa Gay Marriages Abruptly Halted |url=http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/08/083107imar.htm |work=365Gay.com |date=August 31, 2007 |access-date=August 31, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070911111321/http://365gay.com/Newscon07/08/083107imar.htm |archive-date=September 11, 2007 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}{{cite news| first=Kay| last=Henderson| url=https://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN3124032520070831| title=Ruling briefly allows gay marriage in Iowa| work=Reuters| date=August 31, 2007| access-date=August 31, 2007}} Within two hours after the district court published its ruling, two men from Des Moines submitted an application for marriage to the county recorder and their application was accepted. The next morning, several other couples applied for marriage licenses before Hanson issued his 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.{{cite news |title=Judge Overturns Iowa Ban on Same-Sex Marriages |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/31/us/31iowa.html|website=The New York Times |date=August 31, 2007|location=Des Moines, Iowa|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171007184854/https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/31/us/31iowa.html|archivedate=October 7, 2017}} 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. 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.{{cite news |first=Kyle |last=Miller |title=A window of opportunity |url=http://www.iowastatedaily.com/news/article_35fcb33a-fcf6-5492-a0bd-bada2270e343.html |date=September 4, 2007 |access-date=April 5, 2013 |work=Iowa State Daily}}

Image:Terryandmarkwedding.jpg on Sunday, September 2, 2007]]

{{blockquote|That's a win. It's not a final win, because the case is being appealed. But just a few years ago if people were asked if we could get a judge in Iowa to strike down the exclusion from marriage, right there in the heartland, I think most people would have said we couldn't.|Evan Wolfson of Freedom to Marry on the 2007 decisionInterview with Evan Wolfson, David Shankbone, September 30, 2007}}

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.{{cite news |author=Laura Pieper and Luke Jennett |url=http://www.midiowanews.com/site/index.cfm?newsid=18773436&BRD=2700&PAG=461&dept_id=554188&rfi=8 |title=Lucullan's owners set Sunday as wedding date |work=The Ames Tribune |date=September 1, 2007 |access-date=September 2, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928161239/http://www.midiowanews.com/site/index.cfm?newsid=18773436&BRD=2700&PAG=461&dept_id=554188&rfi=8 |archive-date=September 28, 2007 |df=mdy-all }} 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 in Iowa.

Upon appeal, a unanimous Iowa Supreme Court affirmed Hanson's ruling in Varnum v. Brien on April 3, 2009. Using the standard known as intermediate scrutiny to evaluate the state's justifications for denying marriage licenses to same-sex couples, the court determined that denying a marriage licenses on the basis of sexual orientation violated the equal protection clause of the Iowa Constitution.{{cite news | author = Des Moines Register staff | title = Unanimous ruling: Iowa marriage no longer limited to one man, one woman | work = Des Moines Register | date = April 3, 2009 | url = http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090403/NEWS/90403010 | access-date = April 3, 2009 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://archive.today/20120629165642/http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090403/NEWS/90403010 | archive-date = June 29, 2012 | df = mdy-all }} Licenses were originally to be available 21 days after the ruling on April 24, but the availability of licenses was postponed until April 27 due to a furlough day.{{cite news|last=Davey|first=Monica|title=A Quiet Day in Iowa as Same-Sex Couples Line Up to Marry|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/28/us/28marriage.html|access-date=October 22, 2012|newspaper=New York Times|date=April 27, 2009}}

Despite the ruling in Varnum, the Iowa Department of Public Health had refused to recognize same-sex marriages when completing birth and death certificates. On December 12, 2012, ruling in Buntemeyer v. Iowa Department of Public Health, a state court ordered the department to list the names of two women, a married lesbian couple, on the death certificate of their stillborn son.[http://www.lambdalegal.org/sites/default/files/buntemeyer_ia_20121217_polk-cty-dct-ct-ruling.pdf Iowa District Court for Polk County, Buntemeyer v. Iowa DPH, December 12, 2012]. Retrieved December 17, 2012 The Iowa Supreme Court heard arguments that same day in the department's appeal of a decision in Gartner v. Newton that ordered it to enter the names of two women as parents on a birth certificate.{{cite news |last=Danielson |first=Dar|title=Supreme Court hears birth certificate case involving same-sex parents |url=http://www.radioiowa.com/2012/12/12/supreme-court-hears-birth-certificate-case-involving-same-sex-parents/|access-date=March 6, 2013|newspaper=Radio Iowa|date=December 12, 2012}} On May 3, 2013, the court unanimously affirmed the lower court's ruling in Gartner and said that "by naming the nonbirthing spouse on the birth certificate of a married lesbian couple's child, the child is ensured support from that parent and the parent establishes fundamental legal rights at the moment of birth".{{cite news|last=Neuman|first=Scott|title=Iowa Court: List Both Same-Sex Parents On Birth Certificates|url=https://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/05/03/180840531/iowa-court-list-both-same-sex-parents-on-birth-certificates|access-date=May 3, 2013|newspaper=NPR|date=May 3, 2013}}

File:Marriage Equality Celebration (18571348824).jpg, June 26, 2015]]

On November 2, 2010, Iowa Supreme Court justices David L. 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.{{cite news |url=http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20101103/NEWS09/11030390/Iowans-dismiss-three-justices |title=Iowans Dismiss Three Justices |work=Des Moines Register |date=November 3, 2010 |access-date=February 3, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120728115634/http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20101103/NEWS09/11030390/Iowans-dismiss-three-justices |archive-date=July 28, 2012 |df=mdy-all }} Their removal followed campaigning by groups opposed to same-sex marriage including the National Organization for Marriage.{{cite news|url=http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2010/10/25/gay_marriage_foes_back_push_to_oust_iowa_justices/ |title=Gay Marriage Foes Back Push To Oust Iowa Justices|publisher=Boston.com| date=October 25, 2010|access-date=February 3, 2015|agency=Associated Press|first=Mike|last=Glover}} The three judges did no campaigning on their own behalf, but were supported by numerous third parties.{{cite news |author=KCRG Intern |url=http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/Vote-2010-Group-Targets-Three-Iowa-Supreme-Court-Justices--104909434.html |title=Vote 2010: Group Targets Three Iowa Supreme Court Justices |publisher=Kcrg.com |date=October 13, 2010 |access-date=December 2, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203004420/http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/Vote-2010-Group-Targets-Three-Iowa-Supreme-Court-Justices--104909434.html |archive-date=December 3, 2013 |df=mdy-all }} On November 6, 2012, Justice David Wiggins won retention in an election, largely due to the fact that Iowa had reversed its opposition to same-sex marriage, now showing majority support.{{cite web|url=http://electionresults.sos.iowa.gov/resultsSW.aspx?type=JUD&map=CTY&lValue=Supreme%20Court&gValue=Supreme%20Court|title=Secretary of State - Election Night Results - November 6th, 2012|access-date=November 7, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107183038/http://electionresults.sos.iowa.gov/resultsSW.aspx?type=JUD&map=CTY&lValue=Supreme%20Court&gValue=Supreme%20Court|archive-date=November 7, 2012|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}

In June 2015, Streit and Baker expressed support for Obergefell v. Hodges, the U.S. Supreme Court ruling which legalized same-sex marriage nationwide in the United States. Baker said, "I think it just shows that we were a little bit ahead of our time in anticipating this result." Streit added, "I think all seven of us are very proud of what we did. Has marriage been lessened because of what we did? No, and in the U.S. all people will be able to enjoy the freedoms of America and be treated as equal citizens under our law." Reacting to the Obergefell ruling, Kate Varnum, plaintiff in Varnum, said, "To think how far we've come in the past 10 years since we filed the lawsuit in Iowa - it's incredible." Governor Terry Branstad said he was "disappointed" with Obergefell and called for the passage of a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, but acknowledged that such an amendment has "virtually no chance of [succeeding]".

File:Marriage rally and press conference 022 (6854294004).jpg, March 2011]]

State constitutional amendments to ban same-sex marriage were proposed several times in the Iowa General Assembly in the wake of the judicial rulings.{{cite web |url=http://www.qctimes.com/blogs/?p=1486 |title=Funnel Week Survivors |author=Linda Miller |date=March 10, 2008 |access-date=March 11, 2008}} To amend the Constitution of Iowa, two consecutive sessions of the Assembly would need to approve the amendment, after which it would be placed on the ballot for final approval by the Iowa electorate.{{cite web |title=Iowa Constitution, Article X, Section 1 |url=http://search.legis.state.ia.us/NXT/gateway.dll/IowaState/ISLRoot/codeandsupp/const.htm?f=templates&fn=default.htm |access-date=September 11, 2008 }}

An amendment was first proposed in 2008 but did not pass. The Assembly 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.Iowa Independent: [http://iowaindependent.com/24695/gronstal-no-gay-marriage-vote-in-2010 Jason Hancock, "Gronstal: No gay marriage vote in 2010," December 31, 2009] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717025328/http://iowaindependent.com/24695/gronstal-no-gay-marriage-vote-in-2010 |date=July 17, 2011 }}, accessed June 1, 2012 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."[http://www.southwestiowanews.com/articles/2009/04/03/breaking/doc49d62d97b2e44679847874.txt Iowa Supreme Court: Gay marriage ban illegal] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130111093340/http://www.southwestiowanews.com/articles/2009/04/03/breaking/doc49d62d97b2e44679847874.txt |date=January 11, 2013 }}, Southwest Iowa News, April 3, 2009 Democratic leaders of the Iowa Senate and House of Representatives during the 2009–2010 legislative session opposed a vote on an amendment.{{cite magazine|last=Glover|first=Mike|title=A look at Iowa legislative session |magazine=Bloomberg Businessweek|date=March 30, 2010|url=http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9EP6NK80.htm|access-date=October 11, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120201074251/http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9EP6NK80.htm|archive-date=February 1, 2012|df=mdy-all}} In the next session, debate on a proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage in Iowa attracted national news coverage after Zach Wahls, a college student and son of a lesbian couple, addressed the House Judiciary Committee in a public hearing on January 31, 2011.Zach Wahls: [http://www.zachwahls.com/?page_id=273 Transcript of testimony] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120502153043/http://www.zachwahls.com/?page_id=273 |date=May 2, 2012 }}, accessed May 30, 2012 A video of his testimony posted on YouTube went viral.AOL News: [http://www.aolnews.com/2011/02/02/zach-wahls-iowa-speech-for-gay-marriage-goes-viral-video/ Steven Hoffer, "Zach Wahls' Iowa Speech for Gay Marriage Goes Viral," February 2, 2011] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120911030823/http://www.aolnews.com/2011/02/02/zach-wahls-iowa-speech-for-gay-marriage-goes-viral-video/ |date=September 11, 2012 }}, accessed May 30, 2012 On February 1, 2011, with Republicans in the majority, the House passed House Joint Resolution 6 by a vote of 62–37. Democratic leaders promised to block debate in the Senate, which they did.{{cite web |last=Bolcer |first=Julie |url=http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2011/02/01/Iowa_House_Holds_Marriage_Equality_Hearing/ |title=Iowa House Votes For Marriage Ban |publisher=Advocate.com |date=February 1, 2011 |access-date=December 2, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111010180711/http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2011/02/01/Iowa_House_Holds_Marriage_Equality_Hearing/ |archive-date=October 10, 2011 |df=mdy-all }} Same-sex marriage could also have been banned by constitutional convention, which Iowa voters can initiate once a decade. On November 2, 2010, voters defeated a proposed constitutional convention by a 2–1 margin.{{cite news|last=Scott|first=Monica |title=What other states have done about constitutional conventions|newspaper=The Grand Rapids Press|date=October 11, 2010|url=http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/10/what_other_states_have_done_ab.html|access-date=October 11, 2010}}

In 2023, eight Republican lawmakers introduced two bills to the General Assembly;{{efn|The lawmakers were Brad Sherman, Luana Stoltenberg, Mark Cisneros, Helena Hayes, Zach Dieken, Skyler Wheeler, Phil Thompson, and Thomas Gerhold.}} the first to add a same-sex marriage ban to the Iowa Constitution and the second to declare the Respect for Marriage Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden in December 2022, inoperable in Iowa.{{cite web|url=https://cbs2iowa.com/amp/news/local/gop-lawmakers-propose-amending-iowa-constitution-to-ban-gay-marriage|title=GOP lawmakers propose amending Iowa Constitution to ban gay marriage|date=28 February 2023|work=CBS2Iowa|location=Des Moines}} The bills, which political experts and advocates widely considered unconstitutional, were not moved out of committee and died in March 2023.{{cite web|url=https://www.thegazette.com/state-government/which-iowa-bills-survived-which-ones-died/#|title=Which Iowa bills survived, which ones died|date=March 3, 2023|work=The Gazette|first=Erin|last=Murphy}}

The Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa bans same-sex marriages. Its Tribal Code states that "only persons of the opposite gender may marry" on the reservation. However, the Code also states "all marriages performed other than as provided for in this Code, which are valid under the laws of the jurisdiction where and when performed, are valid within the jurisdiction of the Sac & Fox of the Mississippi in Iowa."{{cite web|url=https://drive.google.com/file/d/14WIRfrIZHe92rqUlaAnh0YoTQjhXM7F_/view|format=PDF |title=Title 6. Family Relations|work=Meskwaki Nation|access-date=November 28, 2023}}

While there are no records of same-sex marriages as understood from a Western perspective being performed in Native American cultures, there is evidence for identities and behaviours that may be placed on the LGBT spectrum. Many of these cultures recognized two-spirit individuals who were born male but wore women's clothing and performed everyday household work and artistic handiwork which were regarded as belonging to the feminine sphere. Sauk two-spirit individuals, known as {{lang|sac|nîshwi manetôwaki}},{{cite web|url=https://www.sacandfoxnation-nsn.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Copy-of-A-Concise-Dictionary-Sauk.pdf|title=A Concise Dictionary of the Sauk Language|first=Gordon|last=Whittaker|work=The Sac & Fox Nation|date=2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406143513/https://www.sacandfoxnation-nsn.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Copy-of-A-Concise-Dictionary-Sauk.pdf|archive-date=April 6, 2023}} characterized their gender role change as "an unfortunate destiny which they cannot avoid, being supposed to be impelled to this course by a vision from the female spirit that resides in the Moon." They were sacred and honored annually with a dance in which only those men who had had sexual intercourse with a {{lang|sac|nîshwi manetôwaki}} were allowed to participate.{{cite book|title=Men as women, women as men: changing gender in Native American cultures|url=https://archive.org/details/menaswomenwomena0000lang|url-access=registration|author=Sabine Lang|publisher=University of Texas Press |year=1998 |isbn=0-292-74701-2}}

A 2008 study from the University of California, Los Angeles 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 would result in a net gain of approximately $5.3 million each year for the state.M.V. Lee Badgett, Amanda K. Baumle, Adam P. Romero, and Brad Sears, [http://repositories.cdlib.org/uclalaw/williams/badgett_4 The Impact on Iowa's Budget of Allowing Same-Sex Couples to Marry] (April 1, 2008). The Williams Institute. This net impact would be the result of savings in expenditures on state means-tested public benefit programs and an increase in state income and sales tax revenue.

File:Marriage Day (3479672253).jpg on April 27, 2009 following the Iowa Supreme Court's ruling in Varnum]]

Between April 2009 and March 2010, 2,020 same-sex couples were married in Iowa, accounting for 10.1% of all 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 Illinois, Missouri and Nebraska.{{cite news |author=Tony Leys |url=http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/index.php/2010/05/18/2020-gay-marriages-recorded-here-since-last-april |title=2,200 gay marriages in Iowa during past year | Des Moines Register Staff Blogs |publisher=Blogs.desmoinesregister.com |date=May 18, 2010 |access-date=December 2, 2013 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130121120151/http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/index.php/2010/05/18/2020-gay-marriages-recorded-here-since-last-april |archive-date=January 21, 2013 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}

By June 26, 2015, the day the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide in Obergefell v. Hodges, approximately 11,000 same-sex couples had married in Iowa,[http://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/government/latest-stats-show-nearly-a-third-of-iowa-marriages-are-same-sex-unions-20150626 In six years prior to Friday's SCOTUS decision, more than 11,000 same-sex couples have wed in Iowa], The Gazette (Cedar Rapids), June 26, 2015 mostly in Polk, Scott, Johnson, Pottawattamie and Linn counties. The 2020 U.S. census showed that there were 4,349 married same-sex couple households (1,681 male couples and 2,668 female couples) and 3,274 unmarried same-sex couple households in Iowa.{{cite web|url=https://data.census.gov/table/DECENNIALDHC2020.PCT15?t=Families%20and%20Living%20Arrangements&d=DEC%20Demographic%20and%20Housing%20Characteristics|title=PCT1405 Couple Households, By Type|access-date=11 December 2023|work=United States Census Bureau}}

• Jene Newsome
• LGBT rights in Iowa
• Same-sex marriage in the United States
• Same-sex marriage legislation in the United States
• Same-sex marriage status in the United States by state

{{notelist}}

{{reflist|2}}

• {{cite web|url=https://caselaw.findlaw.com/ia-supreme-court/1374250.html|title=Varnum v. Brien, 763 N.W.2d 862, 883 (Iowa 2009)|website=FindLaw|archive-date=January 8, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150108194859/https://caselaw.findlaw.com/ia-supreme-court/1374250.html}}
• {{cite web|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130126141049/http://iowaindependent.com/31160/one-year-later-gay-marriage-repeal-appears-to-be-on-backburner|title=One year later, gay marriage repeal appears to be on backburner|work=The Iowa Independent|date=April 1, 2010|url=http://iowaindependent.com/31160/one-year-later-gay-marriage-repeal-appears-to-be-on-backburner|archive-date=January 26, 2013|first=Jason|last=Hancock}}

{{Same-sex marriage in the United States}}

Category:Iowa law

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