The Des Moines Register is reporting that 2,020 same sex couples married in Iowa since last April when same sex marriage became legal in Iowa. That number represents more than all marriages performed in Iowa during that time period. Obviously, there is a demand for marriage in the heartland and I can only suspect that Iowa has benefited from the marriages of roughly 1,200 out-of-state same sex couples. Here in Christianist dominated Virginia, LGBT couples must travel to Washington, D.C, and other destinations to marry - taking and spending money that might otherwise boost Virginia's economy in those alternate destinations. Again, religious based bigotry does have a financial cost. Here are some story highlights:*
A new report from the Iowa Department of Public Health says 2,020 same-sex marriages were recorded in the state from April 27, 2009, through March 31, 2010. Only 815 of the couples were from Iowa. The newly married included 199 gay couples from Illinois, 158 from Missouri and 111 from Nebraska.
*
Overall, 19,904 couples were married in Iowa during the time period. Of those, 2,020 were listed as “same gender” couples, 16,869 were listed as “opposite gender” and 1,015 were listed as “not stated.” Among gay couples getting married here, 728 were two men, and 1,292 were two women.
*
Polk County had the most gay marriages, with 484; Scott County had 238; Johnson County had 235; and Pottawattamie County had 222.
No comments:
Post a Comment