OTTUMWA, IOWA -- Last April, the State of Iowa legalized same sex marriages. KTVO wanted to see what the marriage scene looked like almost a year later.
Wapello County Auditor Joyce Hass said they handle all marriage licenses the same and
Iowa no longer requires sex to be marked on the marriage licenses.
According to the Iowa Department of Public Health, in 2009 there were 17,600 marriage licenses granted from April 27, the day same sex marriages became legal, and Dec. 31st.
Traditional, or opposite sex marriages accounted for 14,914 marriages.
More than 10%, or1,783, were same sex marriage. Of those, 645 were male-male and 1138 were female-female.
The remaining 901 were not marked, Hass which is not required by law.
Hass says things have calmed down substantially from this time last year.
“We did receive petitions with over 700 signatures and there were people on the front steps of the courthouse. That was a difficult time for our office,” said Hass.
Those in favor have also calmed down.
“When it first took place we had seen bigger numbers and people seemed more excited about it, the couples that came in, but that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore,” Hass said.
Hass said she saw a rush in the first month and estimates 3-5 same sex applications per month now.
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forKTVO