By Grant Schulte
The Iowa Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Tuesday in a pivotal same-sex marriage case that could echo throughout the nation and be far more difficult to challenge at the ballot box than a high-profile ruling in California, legal experts say.
The lawsuit, filed by six same-sex Iowa couples, pits gay rights supporters against those who argue that gay marriage threatens traditional family values.
The case, Varnum v. Brien, could make Iowa the first state in the Midwest to legalize gay marriage, says University of Iowa law professor Angela Onwuachi-Willig. Other high-court decisions favorable to gay rights advocates have come from traditionally liberal, coastal states: California, Massachusetts and Connecticut.
The hearing comes little more than a month after California voters approved Proposition 8, a measure that limited marriage to a man and woman in the state constitution.
Amending the Iowa constitution is much more difficult. According to state law, the procedure requires simple-majority approval of the Iowa House and Senate during two consecutive legislative sessions, followed by a simple majority of voters in the next general election.
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