Des Moines, IA -
Gay marriage celebrates its fifth anniversary in Iowa on Thursday.
In was on April 3, 2009 that the Iowa Supreme Court handed down its unanimous Varnum v. Brien decision which brought for the first time marriage equality to the Midwest.
The following year, angry social conservatives successfully campaigned to oust three judges from the bench. The Republican-led House in 2011 approved a constitutional amendment which would define marriage as a heterosexual union, but Democrats have blocked the measure in the Senate.
Speaking to The Des Moines Register, former justice Michael Streit described the state's arguments of "protecting procreation" as "pretty feeble."
"Why would you let old people get married over 50 or 60? Why would you let people get married if they don't intend to have children?" he rhetorically asked.
Streit added: "In all our cases ...we discuss the case after it's argued. So we go back into chambers and we start with the writing justice [Mark Cady] discussing what we all just saw ...And then the way our group works is we progress around the table. ...By the time we're getting to Justice Appel I'm thinking, 'This is gong to be unanimous.'"
Massachusetts will celebrate a decade of marriage equality next month.
In was on April 3, 2009 that the Iowa Supreme Court handed down its unanimous Varnum v. Brien decision which brought for the first time marriage equality to the Midwest.
The following year, angry social conservatives successfully campaigned to oust three judges from the bench. The Republican-led House in 2011 approved a constitutional amendment which would define marriage as a heterosexual union, but Democrats have blocked the measure in the Senate.
Speaking to The Des Moines Register, former justice Michael Streit described the state's arguments of "protecting procreation" as "pretty feeble."
"Why would you let old people get married over 50 or 60? Why would you let people get married if they don't intend to have children?" he rhetorically asked.
Streit added: "In all our cases ...we discuss the case after it's argued. So we go back into chambers and we start with the writing justice [Mark Cady] discussing what we all just saw ...And then the way our group works is we progress around the table. ...By the time we're getting to Justice Appel I'm thinking, 'This is gong to be unanimous.'"
Massachusetts will celebrate a decade of marriage equality next month.
Article provided in partnership with On Top Magazine
