Iowa court overturns its gay marriage ban

by: Jay Stevens

Fri Aug 31, 2007 at 06:37:57 AM MST

Polk County Judge Robert Hanson struck down Iowa's prohibition on same-sex marriage Thursday.

In his 63-page decision, Hanson wrote that the statute excluding same-sex couples from marriage "violates Plaintiff's due process and equal protection rights for the aforementioned reasons including, but not limited to, the absence of a rational relationship to the achievement of any legitimate governmental interest." Therefore, the law is "unconstitutional and invalid."

That's great news. Gay marriage bans are, in effect, laws targeting a specific minority in our communities and denying them rights and privileges enjoyed by the rest of the community. Creating separate legal codes for different groups, IMHO, is not a habit we should be getting into.

Now justices have know this aspect of gay marriage bans since the trend cropped up and the bans were challenged in courts. That's why decisions on the bans have come down to whether government and society have a vested and legitimate reason to prevent gays from going to the altar.