Iowa Supreme Court Strikes Down Law Banning Same-Sex Marriage

Morro wrote:

Speaking as a citizen of a country that's had same-sex marriage for coming up on 4 years now... prepare for nothing to change. ;)

Yup.

Farscry wrote:

Holy crap, the local newspaper's online comments section has pretty much exploded over this story. It's usually pretty bad in there, but it's a whole new level of pathetic now.

Newspaper comment sections have always made YouTube commentators look level headed and well educated. It's always been fun to watch the comments in our local paper somehow manage to blame all of our state's problems on illegal immigrants. With the election of Obama they're really letting their racism shine.

kuddles wrote:
Morro wrote:

Speaking as a citizen of a country that's had same-sex marriage for coming up on 4 years now... prepare for nothing to change. ;)

Yup.

If you allow gay marriage you'll be overrun by fjords, mountains and reindeer. Poor Denmark never saw it coming.

nossid wrote:

If you allow gay marriage you'll be overrun by fjords, mountains and reindeer. Poor Denmark never saw it coming.

Thank you for the Monday Spit Take.

Re: local newspaper comments sections. yeah. YEAH. They make the craigslist rants section and the official WoW forums look like a well structured, moderated discussion. I have no idea who regularly posts in the "local news stories comments" part of the internet, but it is a bad cross section of the internet indeed.

(they are also extremely entertaining)

Sorry for the double post, but as I was looking through my local newspaper stuff for hilarious comments, I stumbled on a huffington post opinion piece that I found extremely interesting. Basically he's saying that allowing gay marriage will fundamentally strengthen all marriages, including heterosexual ones:

Homophobia drives fearful gay men and women into fraudulent marriages. The pressure to conform, the weight of discrimination, the potential loss of cherished dreams (serving in the military, worshiping in church, getting job promotions, raising kids) propels many into marriages they otherwise wouldn't commit to.

Homophobia has a way of wounding gay and straight alike. It creates two classes of victims: People who are forced to lie and the people they lie to. As homophobia decreases, so will the pressure for gays and lesbians to enter into fig leaf marriages. Which in turn, prevents children from being hurt by divorce and helps heterosexuals, like Cooper's wife, create authentic, stable marriages.

Very interesting take on the situation. It's all opinion (no statistics cited), but still, it's a pretty strong point.

I also remember someone (Sullivan maybe?) noting that the civil union compromise ultimately weakens traditional marriage by setting up what is essentially a competing institution. After all, there's nothing stopping a straight couple from choosing to go the civil union route instead of the marriage one.

After all, there's nothing stopping a straight couple from choosing to go the civil union route instead of the marriage one.

Aside from an almost overwhelming cultural impetus for a man and woman to "get married."

Al wrote:

After all, there's nothing stopping a straight couple from choosing to go the civil union route instead of the marriage one.

Actually, there are plenty of reasons to go for the traditionally-titled "marriage": I do not believe that the US Tax code allows people in a civil union to file jointly - potentially forcing a couple to owe more in taxes. Most hospitals are not allowed to give information to non-family members, such as a blood relative or spouse - they would likely need special wording in HIPPA documents to allow a Civil Partner access to a patient. On death, most assets go to a spouse, and I do not think that Civil Unions carry the same status there. Basically, all of the reasons same-sex couples want marriage instead of Civil Unions, but without the pointless limitation on gender.

Atras wrote:

Actually, there are plenty of reasons to go for the traditionally-titled "marriage"

True. In this case it was more the hypothetical civil union that's exactly the same as marriage in everything but name rather than civil unions as they exist now.

Yay for Iowa!

Alien13z wrote:

Good. Iowa is not exactly a bastion of liberalism.

Eh, I lived in Iowa 27 years until I moved in 2007. For the most part it's a pretty moderate state. It has it's cesspools of ignorance (like the area I was born in and spent the first 19 years of my life), but it also has progressive and markedly liberal areas like Iowa City (where I spent the next 8 years). I was honestly shocked when I heard about this on friday, not because that it happened, but because it happened so soon.

Though, I could swear that on friday I could hear a faint "popping" noise from the east as my families' collective heads exploded from the news. Hilarious.

Awesome news!

My parents will be happy. Maybe my father will get to marry some of them! He could come out of retirement. (Although it's harder to come out of Alzheimer's, hmmm, but the new meds work pretty well.)

Robear wrote:

My parents will be happy. Maybe my father will get to marry some of them! He could come out of retirement. (Although it's harder to come out of Alzheimer's, hmmm, but the new meds work pretty well.)

You know, I laughed, and even my scorched black heart felt a pang of guilt for it..

He's on the decline, but the experimental stuff put him back near normal for a few years. He's still pretty normal at home, he just can't tolerate travel anymore. It's not yet dire.

That's very good to hear, Ro. Hopefully medicine will continue to advance in time to keep him from declining any further.

It's complicated. He's been up and down, there are other things going on (because Alzheimer's is a pretty steady decline, but other conditions can create similar symptoms that come and go with treatment.) But thanks for your thoughts.

Robear wrote:

It's complicated. He's been up and down, there are other things going on (because Alzheimer's is a pretty steady decline, but other conditions can create similar symptoms that come and go with treatment.) But thanks for your thoughts.

My thoughts go out to you. I lost my grandfather and one of my uncles to Alzheimer's. It's truly brutal disease. Nothing worse than having your loved one freak out when you come for a visit because they have no idea who the heck you are and why you are in their room.

He's nowhere near that state yet. Just easily confused and angry a lot of the time.

Robear wrote:

He's on the decline, but the experimental stuff put him back near normal for a few years. He's still pretty normal at home, he just can't tolerate travel anymore. It's not yet dire.

Can I get the name of the meds? My grandmother is really losing it right now and I have no idea what to do. My whole family is at a lost.

I'll have to ask my mother. It's apparently an experimental medicine.

Phoenix Rev wrote:

Iowa: More Progressive Than California

It's funny because it's true...

I heard that Iowa has always been at the forefront of civil rights - they had desegregated state schools decades before the Federal government mandated it - and the issue was presented there as one of civil rights. It was an anti-slavery state in the Civil War and the tradition continues. The defense of marriage acts are no different from apartheid or segregation.

Maine is following suit.

Looks like we're definitely heading down that slippery slope toward equality.

(woot)

Seth wrote:

Maine is following suit.

Looks like we're definitely heading down that slippery slope toward equality.

(woot)

New Hampshire could be following suit shortly.

Whodathunk in 5 years or so, we'd go from no marriage equality to 10+% of the country having it. Suh-weet.

When God sends Mooslim terrorists because of all of your gay flaunting his laws in his face, don't blame God.

Paleocon wrote:

When God sends Mooslim terrorists because of all of your gay flaunting his laws in his face, don't blame God.

Wait, we can't blame god when he sends his dynamite vested sappers? How does that make sense? That is like saying Poland couldn't blame Hitler for the tanks.

KingGorilla wrote:
Paleocon wrote:

When God sends Mooslim terrorists because of all of your gay flaunting his laws in his face, don't blame God.

Wait, we can't blame god when he sends his dynamite vested sappers? How does that make sense? That is like saying Poland couldn't blame Hitler for the tanks.

Because it will be your fault for forcing God's wrath. Well, technically, it will be His for programming you with the "freewill" choice he preordained you to choose, but that's beside the point. It's not His fault. It's yours.

This is good. It gives me hope that people are slowly coming to their senses about letting people enjoy their own happiness in whatever form they may choose.