Hooray for Iowa!

The Iowa Supreme Court has ruled that the state's law limiting same-sex couples to civil unions violates the equal protection clause of the state constitution. In short, gay marriage will be legal in Iowa starting April 24th. Not only is this just a wonderful affirmation of equal rights, it's also an important social message. As a Midwestern state, Iowa's approval of gay marriage sets a new standard for areas outside of the traditionally liberal east and west coast zones. Also, all those repressed corn farmers will finally be able to make honest men out of one another. I have to take issue with some wording in the Des Moines Register story on the matter. "The ruling is viewed as a victory for the gay rights movement in Iowa and elsewhere, and a setback for social conservatives who wanted to protect traditional families." First of all, this is a victory for the human freedom movement, not just for gay rights. And social conservatives aren't so much interested in protecting "traditional families" as they are in preventing the establishment of new families. More details here.