Our supporters are newsmakers for 2009!

One Iowa has an incredible group of supporters, and we're glad other people are noticing as well.

Jen and Dawn BarbouRoske and their children were voted "Person of the Year" by the Iowa City Press-Citizen.

"The BarbouRoskes' victory reminds us that recognition of broader civil rights has been never been automatic process in U.S. history. There always have been steps forward and steps backward. ... That's why it's also important to stress that, while April 3 decision overturns a number of legal and social assumptions surrounding how Iowans understand the word 'family,' the decision is not a threat to the close-knit, familial relations treasured by Iowans across the spectrum of sexuality.

We're recognizing the BarbouRoske family as Person of the Year for the impact made by their patience and endurance during the past calendar year. We thank them for being willing to stand up and to step into the legal fray. And we thank them for continuing to demonstrate to their fellow citizens why Iowa needs to stay on the right side of history."

In Council Bluffs, a similar honor was given to Mike Yowell and Hersh Rodasky when their local paper, The Daily Nonpareil, named them Newsmakers of the Year.

"Hersh and I opened the Council Bluffs Nonpareil this evening, and... pow!" Mike wrote to One Iowa on in an email on Christmas Eve. "Didn't see this one coming. ... I had just said to Hersh the other day that things had slowed down for us media-wise. People were finally no longer stopping us in the grocery store and congratulating us."

Mike and Hersh were together 28 years, saw their daughter married and grandchildren born before their union was legally recognized. Now they stand as an inspiration to couples all over the country.

"That reminds me of a story," Mike went on in his email. "Hersh and I have a niece who moved down near Miami last August, right after our wedding. ... During her first week in Florida, a gay co-worker from her new office and his partner took her out to dinner. She told them about her uncles getting married in Iowa, and when she showed them our wedding invitiation, the One Iowa blue dot fell out. She explained to them that it stood for our fight in Iowa to keep marriage equality. And then they asked her if they could keep the blue dot. They wanted to put it up on their fridge. And every time they'd see that blue dot, it would give them hope: Hope that one day might be able to marry in Florida."