Marriage law is 'finally catching up'

Staci Chananie-Hill says she and her spouse Ruth considered their May wedding more of a formality than a life-changing day. The couple had a commitment ceremony years earlier, and viewed their new freedom as the law finally catching up.

"However, when we were standing up in a courtroom in front of a judge, it really felt like just a huge landmark," Staci said. "Neither of us are super emotional people, but after the judge started crying, it was all over."

Staci and Ruth were married by Blackhawk county judge Nathan Callahan, with whom Staci plays plays in their church band. Callahan offered to do the service shortly after the Iowa Supreme Court decision granting marriage equality.

"We vote, we contribute, now we have legal recognition," Staci said. "If my wife gets sick, I don't have to fight just to see her."

Both students at Southern Illinois University, Staci and Ruth met and fell in love in 2004. A job opportunity for Ruth to teach sociology at the University of Northern Iowa brought the couple here about a year ago. Staci says although she was shocked by the Supreme Court decision coming so shortly after they arrived, she was familiar with Iowa's progressive politics from studying the caucuses in her SIU political science classes.

"Even as an undergrad, one of the things we continually discussed was whenever there was a political undercurrent of change, it was discussed in Iowa."

Staci has always known what she wanted to do, and has made a career of helping people. She does work for a number of organizations, counseling victims of violence, creating curricula and helping with radKIDS. Being politically active fits right in.

"Ruth and I have both been activists for a long time, and here was no question about not being a voice," Staci said. "We both have the voice and the language, and we can speak for a lot of people who don't."