Tuesday, April 21, 2009

How Iowa Happened

How Marriage Lost in Iowa

By Jennifer Roback Morse, Ph.D.
From an upcoming issue of the National Catholic Register.

By now, everyone knows that the Supreme Court of Iowa has imposed same-sex “marriage” on the heartland of America, a mere 10 years after the people of that state had expressly voted against it. What very few people know is exactly how unfair this fight really was. Not only was the lineup within the courtroom imbalanced, but the trial court refused to hear relevant evidence. When the case made its way to the Iowa Supreme Court, they didn’t behave much better.

This case, known as Varnum v. Brien, began with a half dozen same-sex couples applying for marriage licenses in Polk County, Iowa. The county clerk, acting in accordance with the law, refused. Mind you, the state of Iowa did not go bothering unassuming people who were minding their own business. This was a staged case. These couples went to the clerk’s office intending to be refused. They sued Timothy Brien, Polk County recorder and registrar, an ordinary county employee.

http://www.ncregister.com/daily/how_iowa_happened

2 comments:

Pearl said...

Thank you so much for writing these findings! Too many people have been duped into thinking that because things are happening so fast (Vermont and Iowa), opinions toward homosexual "marriage" must be changing. That couldn't be farther from the truth, however. And as you've illustrated here, it is not the people approving gay "marriage" for their states, but activist judges and run-away politicians. Great article!

Anonymous said...

I am one of the academics considered irrelevant by the Iowa court. In my book, Taking Sex Differnces Seriously, I review research on sex differences in nurturing and parenting. There is compelling evidence, some of it appearing in top peer reviewed journals, showing that mothers and fathers do different things for children and that what each does is important for a child's development. In that book, I also offer my own research showing dramatic sex differences in interest in baby/toddler care among academic parents with children under two.

The Iowa court's footnote quoted in Dr. Morse article, dismisses without examination evidence clearly relevant to the advisability of same sex parenting.

Steven E. Rhoads
Professor
Politics Department
University of Virginia