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| Iowa upholds gay marriage rights | Iowa upholds gay marriage rights |
| (30 minutes later) | |
| Iowa's Supreme Court has ruled that a ban on same-sex marriages in the US state was unconstitutional. | |
| The judges rejected an appeal against a lower court's 2007 ruling that the ban violated the rights of gay men and women in the state. | The judges rejected an appeal against a lower court's 2007 ruling that the ban violated the rights of gay men and women in the state. |
| The case stems from a 2005 suit filed by a New York-based gay-rights group on behalf of six gay and lesbian couples. | The case stems from a 2005 suit filed by a New York-based gay-rights group on behalf of six gay and lesbian couples. |
| Iowa now becomes the third US state to allow same-sex marriages after Connecticut and Massachusetts. | Iowa now becomes the third US state to allow same-sex marriages after Connecticut and Massachusetts. |
| In 2007, Polk County Judge Robert Hanson ruled that the state's 1998 Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as solely between a man and a woman, violated the couples' constitutional rights. | |
| On the same day Polk County attorney John Sarcone filed an appeal arguing that the issue should be left to the legislature. | |
| But the Supreme Court rejected the appeal and the Associated Press reported that Mr Sarcone would not ask for a rehearing, meaning the court's decision should take effect after in three weeks' time. | |
| Lambda Legal, which filed the case, said the couples, three of whom had children, had been together for between five and 16 years. | Lambda Legal, which filed the case, said the couples, three of whom had children, had been together for between five and 16 years. |
| The group had said the couples wanted "the responsibilities of marriage and the protections only marriage can provide". | The group had said the couples wanted "the responsibilities of marriage and the protections only marriage can provide". |
| They also said the couples' children and future children should have the right to "have their families treated fairly". |