'Renegade' Judge Temporarily Paves Way for Gay 'Marriage' in Iowa

A county judge in Iowa ordered local officials to process marriage licenses for six homosexual couples after ruling Thursday that the state's decade-old same-sex "marriage" ban violated the couples' constitutional rights.

Polk County Judge Robert Hanson ruled that Iowa's 1998 Defense of Marriage Act, which allows marriage only between a man and a woman, must be nullified, severed and stricken from the books, and the marriage laws "must be read and applied in a gender neutral manner so as to permit same-sex couples to enter into a civil marriage ..."

Couples - such as the six that are suing the county after being denied marriage licenses in 2005 - "may not be denied licenses to marry or certificates of marriage or in any other way prevented from entering into a civil marriage pursuant to Iowa Code Chapter 595 by reason of the fact that both persons compromising such a couple are of the same sex," he stated.

The judge's ruling cleared the way for same-sex couples across the state to apply for marriage licenses in Polk County, and by 11 a.m. Friday, 20 had applied for marriage licenses.

The window of opportunity for gay couples proved to be a narrow one, however, when Hanson formally stayed his ruling shortly after noon on Friday, thus preventing the recorder's office from accepting any more marriage applications from gay couples until the Iowa Supreme Court rules on the county's appeal.

But by then, the state's first legal same-sex "marriage" ceremony had already been held.

"I can't believe this is happening in Iowa," said Republican House Minority Leader Christopher Rants, who believes Hanson's ruling illustrates the need for a state constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.

"I guarantee you there will be a vote on this issue come January," when the Legislature convenes, he told The Associated Press.

Matt Barber, policy director for Cultural Issues with Concerned Women for America (CWA), echoed Rants' statement, saying, "This case proves once again that the only way to assure that the institution of marriage is protected - and not radically redefined into oblivion - is to pass a federal marriage amendment.

"Through his actions, Judge Hanson has arrogantly ignored the will of the people by cavalierly disregarding a law constitutionally enacted by Iowa citizens through their elected representatives in 1998," Barber commented in a statement.

"Once again we have another renegade judge abusing the authority he's been granted and arbitrarily legislating from the bench," he added.

Currently, Massachusetts is the only state where gay "marriage" is legal, though nine other states have approved spousal rights in some form for same-sex couples. Nearly all states have defined marriage as being solely between a man and a woman, and 27 states have such wording in their constitutions, according the National Conference of State Legislatures.