Marriage Equality USA Praises the Iowa Court Decision

	Marriage Equality USA Praises the Iowa Court Decision
:	PRESS ADVISORY: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AUGUST 30, 2007 Marriage Equality USA Praises the Iowa Court Decision to Support the Opportunity for Same-Sex Couples to Marry Media Contacts: Molly McKay, Media Director, media@marriageequality.org Phyllis Stevens, Iowa Chapter Leader, ia-central@marriageequality.org Des Moines, Iowa: "Today is a truly profound day in America's heartland as we celebrate Polk County Iowa District Court 's ruling that loving, committed same-sex couples, many of whom have been together for decades, should indeed have the freedom to marry their beloved ,” said Marriage Equality USA Iowa Chapter Leader, Phyllis Stevens. In their decision, the Iowa Court ruled “Couples, such as Plaintiffs, who are otherwise qualified to marry one another may not be denied licenses to marry or certificates of marriage or in any other way be prevented from entering into a civil marriage pursuant to Iowa Code Chapter 595 by reason of the fact that both persons compromising such a couple are of the same sex.” “We applaud Lambda Legal's efforts and the courageous plaintiff couples who stepped forward and offered the truth of their lives as loving families to secure the freedom to marry for all same-sex couples in their state,” said Molly McKay, Media Director, Marriage Equality USA. “ We also celebrate the educational outreach efforts of our Marriage Equality USA Iowa Chapter working in coalition with other local advocates to sustain this momentum.” “The court applied the traditional Midwest value of fairness and inclusion. Iowa is home to thousands of same-sex couples who live in every county of this state. Providing these families equal protection is not only neighborly , but the right thing to do,” said Stevens. “This decision and the courage and perseverance of these families that share their stories on how the exclusion from marriage harms their families will help ensure that no family in the future is treated as second class and will help move this nation forward in the movement for same-sex couples to gain the over 1,000 federal rights and the tens of thousands of states’ rights that come with marriage and marriage alone.” “We are pleased to see so many advances made in support of marriage equality this year, from coast to coast and now expanding to include middle America. Marriage Equality USA will not rest until marriage equality is the law of the land from sea to shining sea ,” said McKay. “It is our honor and our responsibility to help correct this outstanding injustice.” Founded in 1998, Marriage Equality US.A is a national grassroots organization whose mission is to secure legally recognized civil marriage equality for all, at the federal and state level, without regard to gender identity or sexual orientation . For more information go to www.marriageequality.org.