Happy Weddings in Iowa
Marriage equality arrived in fact for couples in Iowa on Monday, 27 April 2009.
Just one snippet:
As television cameras surrounded dozens of couples in line [for marriage licenses] in Des Moines [Iowa], Lori Blachford talked about how life with her partner of 25 years, Karen Utke, was about to change.
Blachford first introduced Utke as “my friend,” then stuttered and settled on “my Karen.” They have two sons, age 13 and 17, conceived with an anonymous sperm donor.
“They’ve grown up with us just acting like a married couple and in a normal family,” Blachford said. “But they understand the legal issues. They realize the inequity. They don’t understand why we should be treated any different.”
The couple plan to marry in the summer.
“It’s a little anti-climactic to us,” Blachford said. “Twenty-five years of married life, it kind of seems silly to organize a ceremony. But we’re thrilled to be able to do it.”
[Tony Leys, Reid Forgrave, and Grant Schulte, "Wedding-day wait ends for same-sex couples", Des Moines Register, 27 April 2009.]
No doubt in the name of "balance" there were also opponents of marriage equality quoted saying silly or slimey things, but this is a happy time so we'll just relegate them a bit early to the trash heap of history.