Iowa marriage argument - good try
Filed by: Nan Hunter
December 10, 2008 1:00 PM
http://www.bilerico.com/2008/12/iowa_marriage_argument_-_good_try.phpLambda Legal did their usually excellent job of lawyering with the challenge to the Iowa marriage law that was argued this morning before the Iowa Supreme Court. (Kudos to lead counsel Camilla Taylor!) But the court did not seem particularly receptive. (You can watch a webcast on the Des Moines Register web page; read the briefs at the court's web page.) Although one can never confidently predict an outcome from hearing the argument, since judges routinely play devil's advocate with their questions, I would be very surprised if this case puts Iowa into the short list of states with marriage equality.
The attorney defending the law (a mini-DoMA adopted 10 years ago) warned that radical homosexuals (ok, he didn't say that, but he communicated that) were out to "destroy marriage to gain equality." So to save marriage, we have to deny ... You get it.
It's laughable as a legal argument, but an effective sound bite, not least because the response is always to fall into the trap of arguing, oh no, we love marriage, it's great, fabulous, just what we've always wanted, bring on the drunken dancing relatives.
