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Officials with the Iowa Department of Public Health released figures this week indicating that 60 percent of same sex couples married in Iowa since 2009 are from out-of state, the DesMoines Register is reporting.
Since same sex marriage became legal in April 2009, Iowa has handed out 2,020 marriage licenses. Of the roughly 2,000 couples, only 815 are residents of Iowa. The report shows that the rest, 1,205 to be exact, traveled from surrounding states including Illinois, Missouri and Nebraska.
Among gay couples getting married, 728 were gay, and 1,292 were lesbian.
Justin Uebelhor, a spokesman for the gay-rights group One Iowa, told the Register that he wasn't surprised to see that so many of the gay couples were from other states. "We've seen a lot of folks excited about being able to get married in a Midwestern state," he said.
