April 3rd, 2009 @ 3:40 pm
Another One Bites the Dust
“The Iowa Supreme Court this morning struck down a 1998 state law that limits marriage to one man and one woman. The ruling is viewed as a victory for the gay rights movement in Iowa and elsewhere, and a setback for social conservatives who wanted to protect traditional families. The decision makes Iowa the first Midwestern state, and the fourth nationwide, to allow same-sex marriages. Lawyers for Lambda Legal, a gay rights group that financed the court battle and represented the couples, had hoped to use a court victory to demonstrate acceptance of same-sex marriage in heartland America. Richard Socarides, a former senior adviser to President Bill Clinton on gay civil rights, said today’s decision could set the stage for other states. Socarides was was a senior political assistant for Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin in the early 1990s. ‘I think it’s significant because Iowa is considered a Midwest sate in the mainstream of American thought,’ Socarides said. ‘Unlike states on the coasts, there’s nothing more American than Iowa. As they say during the presidential caucuses, ‘As Iowa goes, so goes the nation.’’”
Definitely check out Towleroad for more/all information, but one tidbit that I think is a sign of the age we are in:
A surge of interest in the ruling crashed the Supreme Court’s web servers at about 8:20 this morning, ten minutes before the ruling was set to go online.
I always think of politician’s with websites as being kinda funny because most of them have no idea how the Internet works. Something like a Supreme Court seems even more likely to be Luddite like, but at least they have webservers.
