What A Law

An attorney representing six gay and lesbian couples argued Friday that Iowa’s law preserving marriage for only a man and a woman is unconstitutional.

Des Moines attorney Dennis Johnson told District Court Judge Robert Hanson that Iowa has a long history of aggressively protecting civil rights in cases of race and gender. He said the Defense of Marriage Act, which the Legislature passed in 1998, contradicts previous court rulings regarding civil rights and should be struck down.

‘‘It’s just amazing if you look at the history what our Supreme Court has done and we have very good law in Iowa for equal rights, so I do think that Iowa is actually a stronger state than many in that respect,’’ Johnson said.

He said some of the case history in Iowa suggests that marriage is a fundamental right and as such, the state can’t choose who people can or cannot marry.

Johnson said the Defense of Marriage law is ‘‘mean spirited’’ and was designed only to prohibit gays from marrying. He said it violates the state constitution’s equal protection and due-process clauses.

Lambda Legal, the New York-based gay rights organization that spearheaded a same-sex marriage drive across the country, filed the lawsuit on behalf of the gay and lesbian couples in Polk County District Court on Dec. 13, 2005.

The lawsuit contends that the gay couples were treated unfairly when Polk County Recorder Tim Brien improperly denied them marriage licenses. It argues that Iowa’s marriage law is unconstitutional because it draws ‘‘impermissible distinctions based on sex and sexual orientation.’’