Kate and Trish Varnum, who have been married for 14 years, still appreciate the advantages of a legal marriage.
The couple can visit each other in the hospital if either of them is admitted. They also have the right to both names to appear on the birth certificate for their adopted son and to file their taxes together.
In 2009, the couple got married shortly after the Iowa Supreme Court decided in their favor. They were plaintiffs in Varnum v. Brien, a landmark case in which they and five other same-sex pairs were also plaintiffs. In 2015, the marriage of the couple was recognized nationally after the Obergefell V. Hodges ruling by the Iowa Supreme Court, which established same-sex marriage as the law.
The couple is worried about the future of their rights after the proposal of two Iowa bills that target same-sex wedding and a wider array of attacks against LGBTQ rights.
It feels like we are under attack once again. Kate Varnum, speaking to NBC News in Cedar Rapids at the home of her husband and their family, said: “We feel even more attacked than before.”
They live in a suburban neighborhood where pride flags, and other signs of LGBTQ support, are scattered around a few homes and yards.
Trish Varnum, who lives with her husband and their son Alex, 11, in their home, says she has known for the past 20 years that they would have to fight for their rights. She admits, however, that the Obergefell decision gave her a feeling of security.
“After 2015, I believe we were mostly hopeful that it was the beginning of a new era and that there would be a bit more straight ahead before we turned the next corner. Trish Varnum: “I expected it to take longer than it did.”
According to a analysis of the National Conference of State Legislatures 35 states have laws or constitutions that prohibit same-sex relationships. These laws are dormant at this time, but could become enforceable in the future if Obergefell is overturned.
In at least three of the states, laws are still in place that try to circumvent the equal protection of same-sex couples on grounds such as religious objections.
In 2016, Mississippi passed a new law that allowed anyone to refuse to recognize same-sex relationships based solely on “sincerely held religious beliefs”. The law was delayed for almost two years due to court challenges. However, in 2018, the Supreme Court refused to hear the case and the law stood.
A law similar to the one passed in North Carolina just before Obergefell’s ruling in 2015 allows state officials to refuse any marriage ceremony, if they “sincerely hold religious objections.”
A Kansas law , passed in 2013, protects individuals or churches who refuse to recognize marriages between same-sex partners from being sued.
Iowa may soon follow suit. Iowa lawmakers have introduced two bills in this session that target same-sex union. The first is a Joint Resolution that proposes an amendment to Iowa’s Constitution to ban same-sex married. The second would allow residents of the state to refuse to recognize same-sex weddings on religious grounds, as well as attempts to nullify 2023 federal Defense of Marriage Act.
One Iowa Action’s, the largest organization in the state focused on LGBTQ rights, published a Legislation Tracker that includes these bills.
Both the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) are monitoring approximately 500 anti LGBT bills across the country. The HRC released its first ” State of Emergency ” for LGBTQ people living in the United States earlier this month.
The Varnums, sitting in their living-room, where mementos of their wedding ceremony still adorn their walls, said that despite these bills, they are still hopeful.
The fight will never end. Kate Varnum stated that the fight is never over. “That’s always going to be a battle.” It remains to be determined how much of a battle there will be.
