Think of it as a Sesame Street game: Connecticut. Massachusetts. Vermont. Iowa. Which one of these doesn't belong?
Last week, through the course of just five days, both Vermont and Iowa legalized same-sex marriages, effectively doubling the number of states allowing gay couples to wed. The decision in Vermont is less of a surprise. In 2000 the state that has lovingly provided us with maple syrup and Ben and Jerry's was the first in the country to recognize civil unions. Now, less than a decade later, Vermont's legislature officially eliminated the bigoted ostracism of same-sex couples from their legal rights.
However, Iowa is a different story. The Midwest is more of a 7th Heaven kind of place than a Will and Grace one. As a native Nebraskan, I have seen firsthand some of the most intolerant and cruel acts against the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) community, all cloaked under the euphemistic guises of "traditional morality" and "conservative family values." In a region known for its good-natured hospitality, it is ironic its residents can be so close-minded. Many social progressives, myself included, had deemed decisions like that of the Iowa Supreme Court to be an impossible and unrealistic dream. I have never been so happy to be proven wrong.
I can only hope the Iowa court's stance on same-sex marriage is indicative of a greater movement throughout the Midwest. Don't forget, Iowa was the first state President Barack Obama won in the Democratic primaries. Suddenly, a state typically dismissed by East and West Coasters as part of the "flyover zone" is becoming a beacon for social change.
I understand the issue of gay marriage and civil unions is extremely heated. I also know even the most persuasive column would do little to convert proponents of one side to the other. But I will offer this. According to a CBS poll, while only 18 percent of Americans over the age of 65 support the legalization of gay marriage, 41 percent of those under 45 do. Additionally, the support for some kind of legal recognition of same-sex relationships (such as civil unions and domestic partnerships) is rising into the 60 to 70 percent range.
These numbers give us hope - that young adults are opening their minds and their hearts, that citizens are beginning to understand the significance of basic legal rights, that we are beginning to accept homosexuality not as a disdainful choice but as just another facet that adds to the richness of our nation's extraordinary cultural diversity. And even though civil unions are still constitutionally a step below actual marriage, they represent a gradual yet significant modernization of thinking.
Undoubtedly, the court's ruling will be fought. We have already seen drastic consequences since California passed a proposition in 2008 to reverse the state's previous allowance of same-sex marriages. I can only hope legislators and citizens do not revert to prejudices of the past. Martin Luther King, Jr. assured us that although "the arc of the moral universe is long, it bends towards justice." Iowa may be ahead on that curve, but that doesn't mean we can't follow.
Jensen Henry henryjk@muohio.edu
