Lambda Legal Celebrates Iowa

This is a really, really sweet clip.

(Via JMG reader Diane In Iowa City)

Dubuque’s Telegraph-Herald notes the dramatic change in the lives of gay Iowans over the last two decades.

Twenty-two years ago, a handful of gay and lesbian activists held a rally in Dubuque that bordered on a riot when hundreds of anti-gay hecklers surrounded them, throwing eggs and garbage, hurling obscenities and threatening physical harm. Starting today, same-sex couples can pick up a marriage license at any Iowa courthouse and plan a wedding. A lot has changed in two decades for gays and lesbians in Dubuque. After the 1987 rally, two later gay-rights marches attracted crowds of supporters from around the country and little opposition. The city this decade added sexual orientation as a protected class in its human rights ordinance, although it took three tries over an eight-year period. The city now grants same-sex couples the same family benefits as opposite-sex couples. Dubuque also has an active, vocal chapter of PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays). Some local business owners have put together a Web-based wedding-services resource for same-sex couples in the area — iowapridal.com.