Quote:
First gay couple legally marries in Iowa - Yahoo! News
DES MOINES, Iowa - A minister married two men outside his Iowa home Friday morning, sealing the state's first legal same-sex wedding. Less than 24 hours earlier, a judge had thrown out Iowa's ban on gay marriage.
The Rev. Mark Stringer declared college students Sean Fritz and Tim McQuillan legally wed.
"This is it. We're married. I love you," Fritz told McQuillan after the ceremony on the front lawn of the Unitarian minister's home in Des Moines.
On Thursday, Polk County Judge Robert Hanson ruled that Iowa's 1998 Defense of Marriage Act, which allowed marriage only between a man and a woman, violated the constitutional rights of due process and equal protection of six gay couples who had sued.
The ruling cleared the way for gay couples across the state to apply for marriage licenses in Polk County, and more than a dozen had by Friday morning.
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As I read through this a couple of thoughts went through my mind. I remembered how embarrassed I was when Texas passed their ban on gay marriage, then my thoughts moved to how any '08 candidates will spin this, now I'm wondering if gay marriage will be an issue in '08. I was so hoping it wouldn't because I'm not interested in any 'moral majority' getting on their soapbox.
Will gay marriage find it's way into the '08 elections? If so, how big of an issue will it be? Which side will end up making it an issue?