The East and West Coasts have long been considered the stage for legal battles involving same-sex marriages, given the legal status of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts and Connecticut and the recent ban in California.

But next week, all eyes will turn to the Midwest as the Iowa Supreme Court plans to hear arguments on the state’s same-sex marriage law.

This comes as a result of last year’s decision by an Iowa judge that ruled Iowa’s same-sex marriage ban is unconstitutional. Of the six couples that applied for marriage licenses in the brief legal window before the judge stayed his ruling, only one couple was married.

There’s no telling when the Court will issue a ruling after Tuesday’s meeting. Only the Supreme Court can bring a vote on a same-sex marriage ban to the ballot, unlike California, a referendum state, where lobbyists and petitions landed Proposition 8 on this year’s ballot. So what do Iowans think right now?

The majority of Iowans support same-sex civil unions, if not actual marriages, according to a recent Big Ten Battleground Poll administered by the University of Wisconsin. The Iowa portion of the poll was coordinated by University of Iowa political science professors.

The poll found that 28.1 percent of Iowans polled support gay marriage while 30.2 percent oppose gay marriage but support civil unions. Thirty-two percent said they oppose both gay marriage and civil unions, and 9.7 percent refused to answer or had no opinion.

Pollers were also asked how they would react if the Iowa Supreme Court were to rule that gay and lesbian couples are allowed to get married. In this case, 35.1 percent said they would accept the decision. Others said they supported an amendment to the state constitution — 26.7 percent would vote to amend the constitution to ban gay marriage but accept civil unions, while 28.7 percent would vote for an amendment to ban any same-sex relationship. Nine-and-a-half percent was undecided or denied comment.

Based on the poll data, Iowans seem to be split fairly evenly between these scenarios. It does appear, however, that it is only a minority of Iowans who are against same-sex civil unions, even if they are not called marriages.

Whatever the Iowa Supreme Court decides, it’s obvious that some Iowans will be upset. But a ruling is coming whether we want it or not, and, if the Supreme Court’s decision mirrors Iowans’ opinions in this poll, it looks like it could become a milestone.