Gay couples get mixed reaction

SIDNEY, Iowa - In her 18 years as Fremont County recorder, Margaret Henkle never thought she'd see the day.

The day came Monday as Teresa Bell and Cindy Richards of Shawnee, Kan., arrived at the old brick courthouse in this county seat of about 1,300 people.

The women paid $35, signed necessary paperwork and became the first same-sex couple to request a marriage license in Fremont County under Iowa's new law. They plan to return next week to ceremonially tie the knot.

A gay couple from Missouri applied hours later. Matter-of-factly and patiently, Henkle tended to both couples.

"Whether I like it or not, I need to do my job," said Henkle, who said she is personally unsettled by the Iowa Supreme Court ruling.

Perhaps nowhere more than in rural communities such as this one, known regionally for its rodeo bull riders and barrel racers, does the culture clash over controversial same-sex marriage surface as prominently.

Across the street at the drugstore's ice cream counter, a man and woman, married for 51 years, shared their definite opinions.

"It's the worst thing that could be," said Henry Timmerman, 79.

His wife, Jan, said the Bible referred to homosexuality as an abomination. "I can't tell you where it is, but it's in there somewhere."

Other townsfolk, such as Brett Smith, wholeheartedly supported the opportunity for couples such as Richards and Bell to legally bond.

"Absolutely, I think it's a good thing," he said.

Smith broke the early morning tension in the three-person Recorder's Office when he jokingly put his arm around a male customer ahead of him in line and requested a marriage license.

Startled, the other guy, whom Smith has known since childhood, did not laugh - at least not then. It had slipped the man's mind that Monday was the first day same-sex couples could apply for marriage licenses.

"He's speechless," said Smith. "I got him."

Henkle did not know what to expect when she opened her office earlier than usual Monday. With the courthouse in southwest Iowa practically bordering Nebraska and Missouri, and not all that far from Kansas, she was uncertain if her staff would face a surge of applicants.

Up Interstate 29 in Mills County, three same-sex couples - all from the Glenwood, Iowa, area - submitted marriage license applications.

Anita Garreans, 45, and Nan Person, 42, were among them. The women have been a couple for five years and were pleased at the reception they got.

"We even got a smile when we said why we were here," Garreans said.

Bell and Richards, the Kansans, arrived at the Fremont County Courthouse about 8:45 a.m., a bit nervous and exhausted after getting little shut-eye on the eve of their historic day.

"Breathe," Bell, 56, told Richards, 39, after she forgot a few details and asked for a clean form.

Though they had considered applying in Council Bluffs, where Richards has family, they instead settled on Sidney for its small-town atmosphere, figuring the press would not be there.

They said they are weary of jumping through hoops to get the same rights afforded to opposite-sex couples.

Bell is a dietary manager. Richards is a nurse. The two met while working at the same hospital in Kansas and have been together nearly four years.

"We get up in the morning, make coffee, go to work, just like everybody else," Richards said. "I just happen to be in love with a woman."