Homosexual couples looking to marry have a new hero in Iowa, Judge Robert Hansen:
A county judge struck down Iowa’s decade-old gay marriage ban as unconstitutional Thursday and ordered local officials to process marriage licenses for six gay couples.
Gay couples from anywhere in Iowa could apply for a marriage license from Polk County under Judge Robert Hanson’s ruling.
Less than two hours after word of the ruling was publicized, two Des Moines men applied for a license, the first time the county had accepted a same-sex application. The approval process takes three days.
And we already have our first gay wedding in Iowa:
Two Iowa State University students, Sean Fritz, 24, and Tim McQuillan, 21, got their license along with a waiver bypassing the usual three-day waiting period.
Then they rushed off to find someone to tie the knot for them in a bid to become the first in the state to do so — and succeeded when a Unitarian minister united them in a brief ceremony in the front yard of his Des Moines home.
UPDATE:
The Chapel of Love is closed in Iowa.
