Victory in Iowa as “Lesbian Divorce” Ruling Stands
Today,
the Iowa Supreme Court issued an opinion in the Alons v. Iowa District
Court for Woodbury County case (also known as the “Lesbian Divorce”
case). The case was brought by several Iowa legislators as well
as a church and a pastor arguing that the District Court's decision to
terminate a Vermont civil union was inappropriate under Iowa law.
The
Iowa Supreme Court dismissed their action and found that these
legislators, the church and the pastor did not have “standing” to bring the action because they were not parties to the original case. In closing, the Court wrote:
Finally,
we agree with the amicus' observation that many people have strong
opinions about marriage, as they do about divorce, child custody,
zoning, and many other issues, but if everyone were allowed to petition
for certiorari simply because of ideological objections or strongly
held philosophical beliefs that an order should not have been entered,
then there would be no limits to the petitions brought. Iowa law
has never permitted such unwarranted interference in other peoples'
cases. Simply having an opinion does not suffice for standing.
You can read the complete ruling here.
I want to draw particular attention to the work Lambda Legal put into
this case. If you are not a member or contributor to Lambda,
there is no better time than now. Click here for Lambda Legal.
Lambda Legal's Camilla Taylor argued this case in front of the Iowa
Supreme Court with the help of Des Moines Attorney and Chair of the
LGBT Community Center of Central Iowa, Sharon Malheiro.
Additional assistance was provided by ICLU.
Submitted by Christina Butts
Blog For Iowa 