Same sex-couples from neighboring states are making the trek to Iowa to take advantage of state’s recent ruling allowing gay marriage. Seventeen couples from St. Louis traveled 250 miles by bus to Iowa City and were married Friday one-by-one in a 90 minutes ceremony. “It feels great,” said 58-year-old Mike Fienup, who married his partner of 15 years, Gerry Humphreys. “We’re citizens. We pay taxes. Why can’t we be treated equal?”

On Sunday, ten gay couples arrived by bus from Davenport, Minnesota to exchange their vows. “If I have to go to Iowa first because that’s the first opportunity I have, then I am going to take it,” said Johnny Hedgepeth, one of the men getting married. “I say where ever you are married, you are married and the law will just have to catch up with reality.” The beginning of their journey is documented in the video below:

While the marriages performed will be officially recognized in the state of Iowa, they will not be considered valid in their home states. Currently there are no official counts on the number of same-sex weddings thus far, on the surface it appears that out-of-staters make up only a small percentage. Hardly sounds like gay marriage mecca to me…