Happy Passover or Happy Easter to all who are celebrating this weekend. In past years Bleeding Heartland has posted links about those religious holidays. For today’s open thread, I’m reflecting on the Iowa Supreme Court’s Varnum v Brien ruling, announced on April 3, 2009.

Lambda Legal, which represented the Varnum plaintiffs, published a timeline of the case. The LGBT advocacy group filed the lawsuit in December 2005, banking on the Iowa Supreme Court’s “extraordinary history” of independence and “civil rights leadership.”

If Iowa lawmakers had approved a state constitutional amendment on marriage, the Varnum case might never have been filed (in anticipation of Iowans approving a ban on same-sex marriage, as voters had done in many other states). But during the 2004 legislative session, the marriage amendment failed by one vote in the upper chamber, thanks to the united Senate Democratic caucus, joined by GOP senators Maggie Tinsman, Don Redfern, Mary Lundby, and Doug Shull. All four Republican moderates had left the legislature by the time the Iowa Supreme Court ruled on Varnum. Redfern retired in 2004. Tinsman lost her 2006 primary to a social conservative challenger. Shull retired from the Senate in 2006 and unsuccessfully sought a seat in the state House that year. Lundby retired from the legislature in 2008 and passed away the following year.  

Reading through the early Democratic and Republican reaction to the Varnum decision should make all Iowa Democrats proud. Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal and former House Speaker Pat Murphy deserve credit for their leadership at a time when some Democrats would have run for cover on an issue perceived to be unpopular. Minority civil rights should never be conditional on majority approval.

As for the Republicans in the Bleeding Heartland community, you can be proud that your party’s state legislators seem less and less interested in fighting the losing battle to restrict marriage to heterosexual couples.

Three of the seven justices who concurred in Varnum v Brien (Chief Justice Marsha Ternus, Justice David Baker, and Justice Michael Streit) lost their jobs in Iowa’s 2010 retention elections. Justice David Wiggins survived a campaign against his retention in 2012. The remaining three justices who concurred in the decision are up for retention in 2016: Chief Justice Mark Cady (author of the ruling), Justice Daryl Hecht, and Justice Brent Appel. It’s not yet clear whether Bob Vander Plaats and his fellow-travellers will make a serious effort to remove them, or whether they will give up in the face of Iowans’ growing acceptance of marriage equality.

The LGBT advocacy group One Iowa holds an annual gala around the anniversary of the Varnum ruling. Last night the group honored Iowa Senate President Pam Jochum and Des Moines Register columnist Rekha Basu, among others. I enclose below a statement from the group marking six years since gay and lesbian couples won the freedom to marry in Iowa.

From an April 3 press release by the LGBT advocacy group One Iowa:

STATEMENT: 6 YEARS AFTER HISTORIC MARRIAGE EQUALITY DECISION IN IOWA, STILL WORK TO BE DONE

“Our work is far from over,” says One Iowa Executive Director Donna Red Wing

DES MOINES–Six years ago on April 3, 2009, the Iowa Supreme Court made history with a unanimous decision granting the freedom to marry to gay and lesbian couples across the state. Iowa was the third state in the nation to embrace marriage equality. Since then, over 6,000 same-sex families have sought out Iowa as a marriage destination, acting both as a major tourism boom and a message of hope to the rest of the nation.

According to a 2011 study from the Williams Institute, marriage equality garnered approximately $12-13 million in wedding-related expenses to boost the state and local economy of Iowa, adding $850,000-930,000 in tax revenue to state and local coffers.

In 2010, an anti-judge, anti-marriage campaign ousted three competent and fair Iowa Supreme Court Justices based on their involvement in the Varnum v. Brien marriage equality decision. A similar campaign ran in 2012 to oust Justice David Wiggins, but ultimately failed.

In 2013, the United States Supreme Court struck down Section 3 of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in Windsor v. United States that denied legally married gay and lesbian couples recognition from the federal government. The Supreme Court has agreed to rule on marriage equality again this year.

“The Varnum v. Brien marriage decision helped change the conversation around equality in Iowa,” says Donna Red Wing, Executive Director of One Iowa. “Today we honor the courageous six plaintiff couples who made the difference for so many families across the state, and set the example for the rest of the nation.”

Red Wing adds, “The movement toward full equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals has been significant in the past few years, but our work is far from over. We need to ensure that our LGBTQ youth have safe and inclusive spaces to be out and proud in their homes and their schools without fear of being ostracized or bullied. We must address concerns within our LGBT aging and elder community–many of whom are being forced back ‘into the closet’ as they enter into longterm care or assisted living. In addition, we need to expand access to resources for transgender individuals across the state, increase education around transgender issues, and broaden access to LGBT-friendly and culturally competent healthcare. We must continue to engage in civil dialogue, even with those who might oppose us, because these are the conversations that will ultimately change hearts and minds. One Iowa is here to do this work, and we are excited to take on these challenges even as we celebrate this momentous day.”

One Iowa will hold its sold-out 6th Annual Gala Celebration at the Temple for the Performing Arts in Des Moines tomorrow from 6:00 – 9:00 pm. Honorees include Des Moines Register columnist Rekha Basu, Iowa Senate President Pam Jochum, United Methodist minister Rev. Larry Sonner, and Outstanding Partner Tony Timm of Central Iowa Shelter & Services. Notable author and HIV advocate Sean Strub will provide the keynote address.