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Fred's Federalism in Action

DES MOINES, Iowa - A Polk County judge on Thursday struck down Iowa’s law banning gay marriage and ordered the county recorder to permit gay and lesbian couples to marry.

Less than two hours after word of the ruling was publicized, two Des Moines men applied at the Polk County recorder’s office for a marriage license, and for the first time the application was accepted. The process of granting a license to marry in Iowa takes three days.

Gary Allen Seronko, 51, was listed as the groom and David Curtis Rethmeier, 29, the bride on the application.

“I started to cry because we so badly want to be able to be protected if something happens to one of us,” Rethmeier said.

Deputy Recorder Trish Umthun said she took five telephone calls from gay couples after the judge filed his ruling Thursday afternoon.

“They say we heard about the judge’s ruling,” she said. “If we’re a same-sex couple can we apply for a marriage license?”

Umthun said she told them they must bring a witness to sign documents with the couple.

The office, which opens at 7:30 a.m. Friday, is expecting a rush of applications.

Gay couples from anywhere in Iowa could apply for a marriage license in Polk County, the state’s most populous county.

The ruling by Judge Robert Hanson concluded that the state’s prohibition on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. He ordered the Polk County recorder to issue marriage licenses to six gay couples who filed a lawsuit.

“This is kind of the American Dream,” said plaintiff Jen BarbouRoske, of Iowa City. “I’m still feeling kind of shaky. It’s pure elation. I just cannot believe it.”

Ahhhh, yes. The American dream. Men kissing their man brides in the cornfields of Iowa. Brought to you courtesy of the failure of a state to amend its Constitution and a single activist judge.

Blind ideology is just that: Blind.