Appeal sought over lesbians' divorce

[CShine]

DES MOINES -- A conservative advocacy group and six legislators asked the Iowa Supreme Court yesterday to overturn a divorce decree that ended a civil union that two lesbians obtained in Vermont.

Because Iowa law defines a marriage as a union between a man and a woman, the judge's decree recognized a marriage that never existed, the Iowa Liberty and Justice Center argued.

"Judges are appointed to rule according to the law, not create it," said Timm Ried, the lead attorney for the group.

Judge Jeffrey Neary granted the divorce Nov. 14 in Woodbury County District Court. He said he did not immediately notice the gender of the couple involved but decided to let the decision stand because the US Constitution requires states to recognize one another's laws.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2003/12/16/appeal_sought_over_lesbians_divorce/

[davidinalameda]

1. gee, a judge that follows the Constitution

go figure!

[radfringe]

2. ohhhhh the irony of it all.....

sooo many against gay marriage/unions and now that a couple wants to be "un-married" the homophobes are up in arms...

[htuttle]

6. My thoughts exactly...

So now these conservatives are going to fight to see to it that this particular gay marriage stays together? Then what? Are they going to turn around and fight to have the marriage nullified?

[Mountainman]

3. Why does the right spend so much time and energy fighting this?

I think their hatred for gays and lesbians comes from their fundamentalist beliefs and their desire for a theocracy. If the laws are such that gays and lesbians have equal rights then it makes their job harder.

[reprobate]

4. They fight it for the 'noise factor'.

While there are the fundamentalist whackoes that push for banning and even death in some cases, don't confuse them with the political operatives on the right.

To them, the value of the fight is that it injects more noise into the national conversation. The more that people concentrate on things like this the less they pay attention to what's going on in washington. Boiled down to it's essence, this is nothing more than another diversionary tactic.

[Zan_of_Texas]

5. yeah

Definitely. The Rs have nothing to run on except fear factor, whether it's duct tape and plastic sheeting, or gay marriage.


Still, in a culture where they make marriage into a game show, or where the heterosexual rich and famous brag or are caught having sex with countless people who are not their spouses, it is the height of irony to protect not only the "sanctity" of marriage, but the sanctity of divorce.