DES MOINES — David Twombley passed away on Thursday, December 6. Twombley was a long-time music teacher in Iowa and joined his partner, Larry Hoch, as one of the plaintiff couples in Varnum v. Brien, the Iowa Supreme Court case that established marriage equality in the state in 2009.
Twombley and Hoch married after the Varnum decision and lived together in Urbandale. Hoch, a middle school teacher from New York, passed away in 2016. The two were long-time supporters of LGBTQ equality and regular attendees at One Iowa events.
“David Twombley was not only a courageous trailblazer for LGBTQ equality in our state, but a kind and generous man. He will be greatly missed by his friends at One Iowa, and we are thinking of his friends and family during this difficult time. Our state’s movement for equality would not be where it is today without David Twombley, and we will keep him in our hearts as we fight to carry on his legacy.