David Twombley, Iowa Same-Sex Marriage Plaintiff, Has Died at Age 77

Larry Hoch & David Twombley

Nearly ten years ago, Iowa's Supreme Court ruled favorably on the Varnum v. Brien case, which ruled Iowa' DOMA law to be unconstitutional and effectively brought marriage equality to to the state. Six same-sex couples were involved with that lawsuit. Sadly, we lost one of those trailblazers this week.

David Twombley passed away Thursday, December 6, 2018, at the age of 77. He was a high school music teacher for 34 years. He waited to come out as a gay man until his retirement because he likely would have lost his job if he'd done it earlier. Besides teaching, he sang with the Des Moines Gay Men's Choir, played in the Central Iowa Woodwind Ensemble, and in the Des Moines Community Orchestra. He was an avid runner and ran 31 marathons, including Boston, London, and Minneapolis.

He met Larry Hoch in 2001. The two of them had a civil union ceremony one year later in Vermont. They were asked by Lambda Legal to be part of what became the Varnum v. Brien lawsuit in 2005 and quickly agreed. They became legally married in the state of Iowa in fall 2009 and remained married until Larry's death in October 2016.