Same-sex marriage in Iowa

On November 2, 2010, Iowa Supreme Court justices David Baker, Michael Streit and Marsha Ternus, who participated in the unanimous 2009 ruling that Iowa could not deny marriage licenses based on sexual orientation, were removed from office after judicial retention elections. Their removal followed campaigning by groups opposed to same-sex marriage, including the National Organization for Marriage. The three judges did no campaigning on their own behalf, but were supported by numerous third parties. On November 6, 2012, Justice David Wiggins won retention in an election, largely due to the fact that Iowa had reversed its opposition to same-sex marriage, now showing majority support.

In June 2015, Streit and Baker expressed support for ''Obergefell v. Hodges'', the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide in the United States. Baker said, "I think it just shows that we were a little bit ahead of our time in anticipating this result." Streit added, "I think all seven of us are very proud of what we did. Has marriage been lessened because of what we did? No, and in the U.S. all people will be able to enjoy the freedoms of America and be treated as equal citizens under our law." Reacting to the ''Obergefell'' ruling, Kate Varnum, plaintiff in ''Varnum'', said, "To think how far we've come in the past 10 years since we filed the lawsuit in Iowa - it's incredible." Governor Terry Branstad said he was "disappointed" and called for the passage of a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, but acknowledged that such an amendment has "virtually no chance of [succeeding]". Provided by Wikipedia