Iowa tempts me back to blogging

Just had to blog about latest developments from Iowa's Supreme Court ruling released today.

Iowa is not the first Supreme Court in the US to endorse same sex marriage (following Hawaii - overturned by a constitutional amendment- Massachusetts and Connecticut). It is though the first to be a unanimous ruling as well as being outside of the comfort zones of New England and trendy California.

It's also a good read if you like that sort of thing. I find it particularly well written, relating to previous Supreme Court rulings on issues like slavery, segregation and women's equality where Iowa was way in advance of the US Supreme Court. The language of the ruling contains subtle digs at other jurisdictions which have denied marriage equality (New York, Washington) or might be about to (California).

Its logic is faultless and is a delight to read and I'm certain will have a huge impact in years to come. In particular it reflects on the historic aspects of discrimination faced by "gay and lesbian people".

At the same time as all this marriage equality measures are progressing actively in New Hampshire and Vermont (where the Senate carried a bill by 26 - 4, the House by 95 - 52 - though not enough as yet to counteract a planned veto by the state governor).

And from Europe, news that the Swedish Parliament has enacted same sex marriage legislation by 261 votes to 22.