Gender Neutrality
Proposed for Iowa Marriage Laws

Gay Iowa state senator Matt McCoy introduced a bill March 5 that would make the state's marriage laws gender-neutral.

The Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act, as the bill is known, would remove the words "husband" and "wife" from Iowa marriage laws and replace them with the word "spouse."

McCoy, a Democrat from Des Moines, views the bill as a pragmatic step in the event same-sex marriage becomes legal in Iowa. The state supreme court is currently considering a gay marriage case after hearing arguments in December, but a ruling is not expected anytime soon.

"I think it's a good bill, and it's something that shouldn't be controversial," McCoy told Radio Iowa. "We should just be thinking about how this is all going to work once Iowa becomes a mecca for gay marriage."