Iowa undergraduate students Sean Fritz and Tim McQuillan were married in Des Moines this morning during an extremely brief window of opportunity to become Iowa’s first legal same-sex union.
According to a report from the Associated Press, a dozen gay and lesbian couples were at the Polk County Recorder’s Office when it opened this morning. Roughly 20 couples succeeded in applying for marriage licenses before Polk Judge Robert Hanson stayed his ruling from yesterday that Iowa’s 1998 Defense of Marriage Act violated constitutional rights of due process and equal protection. The ruling is expected to be appealed to the Iowa Supreme Court.
A marriage license approval in Iowa typically takes three days. Fritz and McQuillan were able skip the waiting period by paying a fee and presenting a signed waiver. This morning, Rev. Mark Stringer declared the couple legally married in a ceremony on the minister’s front lawn in Des Moines.
Although some have referred to the judge’s ruling as a “moral victory for equal rights,” not all Iowans agree.
“No judge can overrule God,” Brad Cranston, pastor of the Heritage Baptist Church in Burlington told The Hawk Eye. “It’s a clash of morality and legality.”
