Iowa’s state Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments this week on a challenge to the state’s ban on same-sex marriage, but a decision will likely not be forthcoming for several months. Should the Court find the state law unconstitutional, Iowa would join Massachusetts and Connecticut as the only states with legalized same-sex marriage. With the now infamous “Prop 8,” California voters recently voted to amend the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage. Click on the state names to find recent blog entries in this arena. Connecticut, California and Arizona.
The lawsuit in Iowa was filed by Lambda Legal, a gay rights organization representing gay and lesbian couples, on behalf of six same-sex couples seeking to marry in the state.
As previously discussed, New Jersey has legalized civil unions, which provide all rights granted to married couples, but does not currently permit same-sex marriage. New Jersey’s civil union law can be found at N.J.S.A. 37:1-36.
The battle for same-sex marriage is likely to continue on a state-by-state basis throughout the United States. It will be interesting to see whether voter opinions change over time in-line with judicial opinions.