Iowa's gay marriage ban goes before high court

The debate over the future of Iowa's Defense of Marriage Act, a decade-old law that defines marriage as being between a man and a woman, comes after a ruling by a lower court judge last year.

Iowa District Court for Polk County Judge Robert Hanson ruled in August 2007 that the act violated the state constitutional rights of equal protection and due process. The ruling stood for less than 24 hours before a Polk County attorney filed an appeal to the Iowa Supreme Court.

But in the nearly nine business hours that same-sex marriage was legal in the Hawkeye State, dozens of couples applied for licenses. Only one couple -- a pair of Iowa State University undergraduates -- was able to move fast enough to obtain a license and rush through a ceremony before the stay was enacted.

Now, both national advocates and opponents of same-sex marriage say they will closely monitor the Dec. 9 hearing in Des Moines. Both sides say they wonder whether the recent passage of Proposition 8 in California, which banned gay marriage, will influence the outcome in Iowa, and whether the issue of same-sex unions will return to the forefront as state legislatures return to session early next year.

More than half of the country's states have a law that defines marriage as a union between one man and one woman, according to research by the National Conference of State Legislatures.

And after the Connecticut Supreme Court invalidated that state's ban on same-sex marriages last month, there are now two states -- including Massachusetts -- where marriage licenses can be legally issued to gay couples.

California used to be in that category. In May, the state Supreme Court overturned the state's gay marriage ban. But after California voters passed Proposition 8 this month, same-sex marriage was banned once again and the fate of thousands of same-sex unions was thrown into doubt.

Last week, California's highest court agreed to review legal challenges to the proposition.

Given that two state Supreme Courts are likely to weigh in on the subject next year, and that many state legislatures were in recess during California's fight over the matter, "I think it's highly likely that lawmakers across the country will be looking to get something on the ballot in 2009," said Christine Nelson, a policy analyst who focuses on same-sex marriage and family law for the National Conference of State Legislatures.