Not everyone is happy in Iowa today. Iowa Rep. Steve King issued the following press release after the ruling:

“This is an unconstitutional ruling and another example of activist judges molding the Constitution to achieve their personal political ends. Iowa law says that marriage is between one man and one woman. If judges believe the Iowa legislature should grant same sex marriage, they should resign from their positions and run for office, not legislate from the bench.

“Now it is the Iowa legislature’s responsibility to pass the Marriage Amendment to the Iowa Constitution, clarifying that marriage is between one man and one woman, to give the power that the Supreme Court has arrogated to itself back to the people of Iowa. Along with a constitutional amendment, the legislature must also enact marriage license residency requirements so that Iowa does not become the gay marriage Mecca due to the Supreme Court’s latest experiment in social engineering.”

Rep. King is no friend to the gay community…

– King compared gay people to unicorns and leprechauns. “Unicorns, leprechauns, gay marriages in Iowa — these are all things you will never find because they just don’t exist.”

– King sought to uphold anti-gay employment discrimination. “The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) would force employers to hire homosexual employees.”

– King insisted homosexuality was just a “behavior.” Declaring that “homosexual marriage is not a civil right,” King said sexual orientation “is a self-identified behavior, not an immutable characteristic.”

Hat tip to Think Progress.

First openly gay Iowa state senator Matt McCoy remarks on today’s landmark decision, describing it as a “Red letter day for the state of Iowa.” McCoy goes on to say that he views the issue as settled, noting Iowa’s long history of civil rights firsts and that it cannot be easily be undone (unlike California) thanks to Iowa’s rigorous legislative and judicial processes.

Will today’s events impact the pending decision of the California Supreme Court on Proposition 8?

Marriage equality in Iowa? Folks, maybe it’s time give Iowa a try. I’m reminded of the clip from Music Man below…

I guess they are not so stubborn after all.

From the DesMoines Register…

Today’s decision makes Iowa the first Midwestern state, and the third in the country, to allow same-sex marriages. Lambda Legal, a gay rights group, financed the court battle and represented six couples who challenged Iowa’s 10-year-old ban on gay marriage.

Supreme Court Justice Mark Cady, who wrote the unanimous decision, at one point invoked the court’s first-ever decision, in 1839, which struck down slavery laws 17 years before the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the right of a slave owner to treat a person as property.

Iowa’s gay marriage ban “is unconstitutional, because the county has been unable to identify a constitutionally adequate justification for excluding plaintiffs from the institution of civil marriage,” Cady wrote in the 69-page opinion that seemed to dismiss the concept of civil unions as an option for gay couples.

The ruling also addresses the religious concerns of those against gay marriage…

“Our constitution does not permit any branch of government to resolve these types of religious debates and entrusts to courts the task of ensuring that government avoids them,” the opinion says.

The ruling explicitly does not affect “the freedom of a religious organization to define marriage it solemnizes as unions between a man and a woman,” the justices stressed.

It’s a great day to be from I-o-wa!

California Rep. Jackie Speier has been successful in delaying Shirley Tan’s deportation, allowing the family to stay together for a least 2 more weeks. Speier asked immigration officials for the delay as to assemble additional facts about the case.

For more on Tan’s situation vist our previous post.

Thanks, Jackie… I am so glad you represent my district.