DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A county judge yesterday struck down as unconstitutional Iowa’s decade-old law defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman and ordered local officials to process marriage licenses for six homosexual couples.
Homosexuals from anywhere in Iowa could apply for a marriage license from Polk County under Judge Robert Hanson’s ruling, which said the state Defense of Marriage Act denies due process and equal protection.
“Couples, such as plaintiffs, who are otherwise qualified to marry one another may not be denied licenses to marry or certificates of marriage or in any other way prevented from entering into a civil marriage … by reason of the fact that both persons comprising such a couple are of the same sex,” he said.
Less than two hours after word of the ruling was publicized, two Des Moines men applied for a license, the first time the county had accepted a same-sex application. The approval process takes three days.
Gary Allen Seronko, 51, was listed as the groom on the form and David Curtis Rethmeier, 29, as the bride.
“I started to cry because we so badly want to be able to be protected if something happens to one of us,” Mr. Rethmeier said.
Deputy Recorder Trish Umthun said she took five calls from homosexual couples after the judge filed his ruling yesterday afternoon and expected a rush of applications today.
County attorney John Sarcone said the county will appeal to the Iowa Supreme Court and immediately sought a stay from Judge Hanson that would prevent homosexual couples from seeking a marriage license until the appeal is resolved.
House Minority Leader Christopher Rants, Sioux City Republican, said the ruling illustrates the need for a state constitutional amendment against homosexual “marriage.”
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