Personal Stories

Bruce Nelson was born in Cherokee, Iowa, and grew up on a farm near Meriden. He went on to Trinity College, and has spent his life in education -- from teaching missionary children in Ivory Coast and inner-city children in Chicago to being a school librarian in the Chicago area.

In 1982, he met Axel Kunzmann, a German-born radiologist who attended Princeton and Northwestern.

This letter was written by Iowa City resident Jon Trouten on behalf of his family for One Iowa's Lobby Day.

Matt and I met at the University of Iowa in the fall of 1994.

Paula and I have been together for 10 years. It is amazing to think about the process we went through, both individually and as a couple, during that time.

Jenni and Sonya were the first same-gender couple to apply for a Wapello County marriage license on April 27, 2009.

Staci Chananie-Hill says she and her spouse Ruth considered their May wedding more of a formality than a life-changing day. The couple had a commitment ceremony years earlier, and viewed their new freedom as the law finally catching up.