Marriages up, divorces down in Iowa
from the Sioux City Journal
Iowa ended a four-year slide in the number of couples getting married last year, but experts say the turnaround could have been aided in part by an April 2009 court ruling that legalized same-sex marriages.
Also, Iowa posted the lowest number of divorces since 1970 with 7,286 dissolutions, according to preliminary statistics issued by the state Department of Public Health. ...
Justin Uebelhor of One Iowa, the state's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender advocacy organization, said the landmark Iowa court ruling triggered a spike in same-sex marriages as couples with Iowa ties or partners with no previous Iowa connection took advantage of the newly created legal status to tie the knot. "There are quite a few couples that I've seen getting married this summer - your typical wedding season," he added.
