Varnum v. Brien

Summary

Appeal from a trial court's ruling in a lawsuit on behalf of six same-sex couples who sought to marry in Iowa. The lawsuit argued that under the equal protection and due process guarantees of the Iowa Constitution it same-sex couples could not be precluded from marrying, and thus gay and lesbian couples in Iowa were entitled to the rights and benefits of marriage — including the word "marriage" itself. The trial court struck down the state's prohibition on the recognition of same-sex marriages on the ground that the right to marry was a "fundamental right."