Iowa counties begin processing same-sex marriage applications today and the first gay weddings could happen within hours, but details of just what changes and benefits the ceremonies will bring are still being untangled
Iowa counties begin processing same-sex marriage applications today and the first gay weddings could happen within hours, but details of just what changes and benefits the ceremonies will bring are still being untangled.
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However, any questions lingering under the Iowa Supreme Court's April 3 ruling that legalised same-sex marriage aren't expected to slow the initial rush to county recorder offices.
And while Iowa requires a three-day waiting period before marriages can occur, judges may waive that delay and allow immediate weddings. At least one pro-gay marriage group is counting on waivers and has announced its members will hand out bouquets to newly married-couples today in five of Iowa's larger cities.
"There are people who may feel they have waited a long time and they want to do it as soon as possible or they understand that life is uncertain and something could happen while you're waiting," said Jon Davidson, legal director for Lambda Legal, a New York-based gay rights organisation.
Maryfrances Evans and Stephanie McFarland don't plan to marry today, but they're not waiting much longer. Evans, 46, and McFarland, 39, will have their ceremony on Friday, performed by the same judge who finalized the adoptions of their two daughters, now aged 5 and 3.
"It's all about me having the legal right to protect my family, and it's about my daughters being able to grow up knowing that their family is absolutely as valid as any other family," said Evans.
The Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law estimated Iowa had 5,800 same-sex couples in 2005, and said US Census figures reported about 19 per cent of gay and lesbian couples in Iowa were raising children.
The institute predicted in an April 2008 study that more than 2,900 of Iowa's same-sex couples would marry in the first three years if gay marriage became legal. And based on experiences of other states that allow same-sex union, the institute estimated about 55,000 gay and lesbian couples would travel to Iowa to marry during that period.
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