(U-WIRE) IOWA CITY, Iowa — Less than a day after ruling that Iowa’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, 5th District Judge Robert Hanson issued a stay in his decision and further widened the schism between Iowans on the controversial issue.
The Aug. 31 decision to halt the distribution of marriage licenses to same-sex couples will ultimately place the fate of gay marriage in the state in the hands of higher courts.
“I think there will be vast repercussions if Judge Hanson’s initial ruling holds — Iowa will become the mecca for same-sex marriage,” said Chuck Hurley, the president of Iowa Family Policy Center, a conservative group that opposes gay marriage.
Because of Iowa’s lack of residency requirements, he predicts gay couples from all over America will come to the state to be married — a development he contended would be “extremely sad,” because the state would be endorsing the establishment of a motherless or fatherless family.
University of Iowa student Brett Stout, who is in a same-sex relationship, said the issue isn’t one of tradition but of a disequilibrium between religious and state policies.
“It seems the problem, at the heart of it, is a simple conflict the founders of the nation attempted to evade by clearly stating the importance of a separation between church and state,” said Stout, a former Honolulu Gay & Lesbian Cultural Foundation executive director.
The legal system has a fundamental obligation to make laws without personal or religious bias, he said.
Stout advocates for gay marriage because the legal system has obligations to make laws in accordance with principles that are fair to all the citizens they govern, he said.
But even if the Iowa Supreme Court decides not to uphold Hanson’s ruling overturning the Iowa gay-marriage ban, one same-sex couple may be able to practice a matrimonial life.
Ames, Iowa, residents Tim McQuillan and Sean Fritz were able to avoid the typical three-day waiting period for marriage licenses by obtaining a judge’s waiver, becoming the first — and currently only — same-sex couple in Iowa to be legally wed.
Though many supporters of same-sex marriage may consider McQuillan and Fritz’s utilization of a legal loophole in order to be married a victory, some gay-marriage opponents are not so happy.
The sanctity of marriage was trivialized when the waiting period was waived, said Hurley, adding that it was “outrageous” that a “Unitarian faux-religion pastor” performed the marriage so hastily.
“It’s a stunt,” Hurley said. “It’s just really appalling — they’ve made this whole situation even more debased.”
Even if a person does support same-sex marriage — as was the case with the judge who signed the waiver, as well as the Unitarian pastor — they should ensure that the couple is embarking into the union with thorough preparation, Hurley asserted.
“Everyone who has worked with relationships knows that the most important one of all — marriage — should not be entered lightly,” he said.