IOWA JUDGE GRANTS CIVIL UNION DIVORCE: From the Sioux City Journal

The recent divorce granted in Woodbury County to two women in a civil union is unlikely to be a landmark decision, a civil rights lawyer said.

Iowa does not recognize the civil unions of same-sex partners and also does not permit the marriage of gay and lesbian couples. The two women who divorced in Woodbury County District Court were partners in a civil
union, which was granted in Vermont, where such unions are legal.

The divorce does not mean that the couple's civil union had achieved legal recognition in Iowa, said David Buckel, a lawyer with Lambda Legal in New York, a national civil rights firm for gay people.

"I have not seen any example anywhere where a dissolution was considered a recognition. It hasn't happened," Buckel said.

What the dissolution does do, is show that Iowa lawmakers, like those in other states, probably will have to address the growing issues that surround civil unions and same-sex marriages, which in a recent court decision became legal in Massachusetts, the first state to grant that privilege.

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posted by Eve at 2:46 PM | link

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