Iowa on Friday became the first Midwestern state to strike down a same-sex marriage ban — a legal decision that opponents of same-sex marriage in Indiana said highlights the need for a state constitutional ban.

Indiana gay-rights advocates called it an important moment in a struggle for civil rights, but neither they nor legal experts expect the Iowa Supreme Court ruling to have much impact on Hoosiers. State law here bans gay marriage and prohibits sanctioning same-sex marriages performed in other states.

In its unanimous ruling, the Iowa court wrote: “The legislature has excluded a historically disfavored class of persons from a supremely important civil institution without a constitutionally sufficient justification.”

Micah Clark, executive director of the American Family Association of Indiana, called the decision troubling.

“If someone said Massachusetts allowed gay marriage, that’s not a huge surprise, as a liberal state,” he said. “I think Iowa’s a shocker. If it could happen in Des Moines, it could happen in Indianapolis. We’re not talking about Boston or San Francisco or something.”

Local gay-rights activists offered varying takes on the Iowa ruling — and noted they have more pressing civil rights battles to fight in Indiana.

“I don’t think this is a radical development. I think it’s just a natural part of the process of demystifying homosexuality,” said the Rev. Jeff Miner, senior pastor of Jesus Metropolitan Community Church in Indianapolis.

“Opponents of gay marriage,” Miner said, "are going to try to take Iowa and say, ‘Oh, it’s going to happen in Indiana tomorrow.’

“No it isn’t. We’re light-years away from the marriage debate in Indiana. We’re still trying to keep people from being fired.”

The Republican-controlled Indiana Senate has voted three times to allow a public referendum on the constitutional amendment. This year, a bill failed to get out of a Senate committee.

In previous years, House Speaker B. Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, has blocked a vote, arguing that the state law is sufficient.

Curt Smith, president of the Indiana Family Institute, disagrees.

“The Iowa court,” he said, “struck down a statute very similar to the same law on the books here in Indiana.”

That law already has been challenged by three gay couples who were denied marriage licenses in Marion and Hendricks counties. They gave up their fight after the state law was upheld by the Indiana Court of Appeals in January 2005.

The court ruled the Indiana act does not violate the state Constitution “because opposite-sex marriage furthers the legitimate state interest in encouraging opposite-sex couples to procreate responsibly and have and raise children within a stable environment.”

Ken Falk, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, does not think the Iowa decision will have a significant effect in Indiana. But, he said, the decision does point to changing attitudes across the United States.

“From a standpoint of just general attitudes,” he said, “I think that the notion of same-sex marriage is becoming more accepted, especially among younger people.”

Camilla Taylor, senior staff attorney for Lambda Legal who led the challenge to the Iowa ban, called that state’s decision huge.

“We still have some work to do in a number of Midwestern states,” she said. “We are using different strategies for different states, but no state is a ‘lost cause’ in our eyes.”

Although the Indiana and Iowa laws banning same-sex marriage are similar, Taylor said state courts use different standards in analyzing constitutional complaints.

“Indiana’s uniquely toothless version found the statute withstood the constitutional review,” she explained. “In Iowa, the courts apply a more rigorous form of analysis.”