Iowa Supreme Court to Hear Oral Arguments in Gay Marriage Case

The Iowa supreme court is ready to hear oral arguments Tuesday in a gay marriage case that USA Today reports "could echo throughout the nation and be far more difficult to challenge at the ballot box than a high-profile ruling in California, legal experts say."

If Varnum v. Brien is decided in favor of the six same-sex couples who filed the case, Iowa will become the first Midwestern state to legalize gay marriage,.

Iowa legislators passed a Defense of Marriage Act in 1998, but the state currently has no constitutional prohibition against gay marriage. Passing an antigay constitutional marriage measure retroactively would be an involved process requiring a simple-majority vote of both the Iowa house and senate in two consecutive legislative sessions followed by a majority approval of voters in the next general election.

"This is the heartland of America -- a place where family values are revered," University of Iowa law professor Angela Onwuachi-Willig, who signed a court brief supporting gay marriage rights, told USA Today. "It would be an incredibly strong signal for the Iowa supreme court to find that same-sex marriages are legal."

Last week reports began to surface that New York State senate Democrats may have secured control of their chamber by bargaining away a promised same-sex marriage bill.