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The New York Times
One Gay Marriage,
Then Iowa Judge Stays Ruling
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Charlie Neibergall/Associated Press
Sean Fritz, left, and Tim McQuillan, center, sealed
Iowa's first legal same-sex marriage with a kiss Friday morning |
By AP from
nytimes.com on the Web, August 31, 2007
DES MOINES, Iowa -- Same-sex
marriage was legal here for less than 24 hours before the county won a stay of a
judge's order on Friday, a tiny window of opportunity that allowed two men to
make history but left dozens of other couples disappointed after a frantic rush
to the altar.
At 2 p.m. Thursday, Judge Robert Hanson ordered Polk County officials to accept
marriage license requests from same-sex couples, but he granted the stay at
about 12:30 p.m. Friday. By then 27 same-sex couples had filed
applications, but only Sean Fritz and Tim McQuillan of Ames had made it official
by getting married and returning the signed license to the courthouse in time.
In the front yard of the Rev. Mark Stringer, pastor of the First Unitarian
Church of Des Moines, they become the only same-sex couple wed in the U.S.
outside of Massachusetts, where some 8,000 such couples have tied the knot.
Stringer concluded the ceremony by saying, ''This is a legal document and you
are married.'' The men then kissed and hugged.
''This is it. We're married. I love you,'' Fritz told McQuillan
after the ceremony.
No more same-sex weddings will be recognized, and no more applications will be
accepted, pending Polk County's appeal of Hanson's ruling to the Iowa Supreme
Court, County Attorney John Sarcone said.
Hanson's order had applied only to the county, but because any Iowa couple could
apply for a license, people from across the state rushed to Des Moines, only to
see fluorescent green signs explaining the stay and adding, ''Sorry for the
inconvenience.''
Lytishya Borglum and partner, Danielle Borglum, drove 2 1/2 hours from Cedar
Falls, along with their 13-month-old daughter, Berlyn. They planned to
apply in Polk County and told their pastor in Cedar Falls to be ready to marry
them when they returned.
''(We) plan to take the application home and pray that things change. Even
though it is a setback, it is a step in the right direction,'' Lytishya Borglum
said.
She said they would like to get legal status to gain more rights but added, ''As
far as we're concerned, our marriage is between us and God. We've been
married for three years -- if you ask us.''
Accepting marriage licenses from same-sex couples has been illegal under a 1998
state law that permitted only a man and a woman to marry.
Hanson, ruling in a case filed by six same-sex couples who were denied marriage
licenses in 2005, declared the law unconstitutional Thursday. He ruled
that the marriage laws ''must be read and applied in a gender neutral manner so
as to permit same-sex couples to enter into a civil marriage.''
The marriage license approval process normally takes three business days, but
Fritz and McQuillan took advantage of a loophole that allows couples to skip the
waiting period if they pay $5 and get a judge to sign a waiver.
Other couples, even those who got an early start Friday, were out of luck.
Katy Farlow and Larissa Boeck, students at Iowa State University, said they got
to the county recorder's office at 5 a.m., then sat in lawn chairs and ate
snacks until the office opened at 7:30 a.m. They got their application in
but didn't get their license.
''This might be our only chance,'' Farlow said. ''We already knew we were
spending the rest of our lives together.''
Hanson granted the stay after Sarcone filed a motion saying his ruling should be
put on hold because lifting the ban was far reaching and would likely be
overturned by the Iowa Supreme Court.
Hanson wrote that Sarcone's arguments ''do indeed constitute good cause for the
issuance of the requested stay.''
Plaintiff's attorney Dennis Johnson had argued that the county's appeal probably
would not succeed and disputed its contention that a reversal would throw any
licenses issued into legal doubt.
He said a marriage license is valid until one or both of the spouses seek to
have it dissolved or one dies, ''regardless of changes in the law that may occur
after the couple marries.''
The Iowa Supreme Court can refer the case to the Iowa Court of Appeals, consider
the matter itself or decide not to hear the case. The flurry of activity
in the courts prompted a quick response from some lawmakers. House
Republican leader Christopher Rants called on Democrats, who hold a majority of
seats in the Legislature, to respond.
''The Democrats should call a special session immediately to take up such issues
and to introduce a marriage amendment for Iowa's constitution,'' he said in a
statement. ''House Democrats need to start leading or get out of the
way.''
Language defining marriage as being between a man and a woman has been written
into the constitutions of 27 states, according the National Conference of State
Legislatures. Most other states have laws to the same effect; Iowa's was
approved overwhelmingly by the Legislature in 1998.
Gov. Chet Culver on Thursday issued a statement stating his opposition to gay
marriage and said he would wait for the court process to play out before
considering any push for legislative action.
''While some Iowans may disagree on this issue, I personally believe marriage is
between a man and a woman,'' Culver said.
Gay marriage is legal in Massachusetts, and nine other states have approved
spousal rights in some form for same-sex couples.
Associated Press writers Henry C. Jackson, Amy Lorentzen and
Nafeesa Syeed contributed to this report.
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