Within the past decade, I married my long-time partner, Husband Mark, with help from our sons and witnessed by our extended family members, church family, friends, and dogs.
I witnessed group weddings for visiting same-sex couples from neighboring states who hadn't caught up to Iowa (yet).
I witnessed attempts to punish members of the Iowa Supreme Court through targeted retention campaigns -- initially successful, later on not.
I witnessed several legislative attempts by House Republicans to ram through a constitutional amendment to define us gays out of marriage. Thank you to the Democrats who held a slim majority in the Iowa Senate long enough for most Iowans to realize that our state would survive same-sex marriage!
I witnessed other states slowly getting through own DOMA laws and anti-gay constitutional amendments overturned one-by-one. And eventually, we all witnessed the US Supreme Court's decision to bring marriage equality to the rest of the country. It was odd to be legally married in Iowa (and select other states) while legally unmarried in most other states from 2010 (when Husband Mark and I eventually married) and 2015.
It's hard to imagine that everyone fought so hard against same-sex couples having access to the rights and responsibilities of marriage for so long -- just as it's hard to imagine that pretty much everyone has accepted that marriage equality isn't destroying everything. I mean, there are flash-points and disagreements. But the fight has shifted (for now, at least).
Happy anniversary, Iowa!