Most Iowans Are Pro-Equality

As I always suspected, the majority of Iowans are clearheaded when it comes to equality.

According to a new poll, the majority of Iowans stand opposed to passing a state constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage, by a margin of 56% to 36%.

This is up slightly from a February 2011 poll, when equality won out by a margin of 54% to 40%.

Twenty-six-year old Ben Tuttleputs it simply: “Equality for all.” But Lou O’Brien, 50, disagrees, "I believe in the original family unit. That is the way I was brought up.”

On the surface it seems that age makes a difference, but, according to the new poll, support for that constitutional ban fails to reach a majority in any age group. It is, however, strictly divided along party lines, with 64% of Republicans in favor of keeping LGBT citizens as second class citizens.

It was back in Ott-Nine that the Iowa state Supreme Court unanimously ruled same-sex marriage was legal, but in November 2010, voters removed from office three of those pro-equality justices who were on the ballot. The issue has faded this legislative session with the proposed amendment remaining roadblocked in the Senate.

The amendment was approved in the Republican-controlled Iowa House last year, but Democratic leader Michael Gronstal blocked it from consideration in the Senate.

So, while it's being debated here and there, proposed and blocked here and there, the facts remain quite clear. Most Iowans are not at all bothered by the idea of gay couples marrying. 

As Democratic Senator, Matt McCoy, the Legislature’s only openly gay member, says, “I think most Iowans recognize that this issue has very little to do with them and their lives, and it certainly doesn’t impact their marriages or the way they live their lives. It is really more about allowing people to be able to commit to people they love.”

Word.

Except for, way to go Iowans.

source

They're Like Oreos, But With A Creamy HATE Center

Out there in Iowa, a House panel is beginning hearings today on a bill that would repeal gay marriage in the state. You know, the bill all the Republicans like, but the one that most Iowans don't care about, as they have shown over and over and over again in every poll taken since marriage equality became legal.

Still, the Iowa Marriage Amendment [IMA]--as in IMA hater--seeks to put a question of allowing gays and lesbians equality on the 2013 ballot, because, you know, we let the people vote on whether other people should be treated equally in this country.

This new bill, of course, would define marriage in the Iowa constitution as a heterosexual union, and instantly nullify the the 2009 Iowa Supreme Court ruling that brought gay marriage to the state. Yes, rewriting their state's Constitution to install hate as law. The measure is supported by 56 out of 60 Republicans because, well, they're Republicans and, for the most part, bigots and homophobes, especially the deeply closeted ones. The bill has little, if any, support among the Democrats, and, in the Iowa Senate, Majority Leader Michael Gronstal has vowed to block the measure from reaching the floor. He's against allowing the majority to vote on the rights of the minority; he's crazy like that.

But, and this is the funny, stupid, sad, moronic, out-of-touch, part of the whole shootin' match; Iowa's most bigoted and homophobic and hate-filled opponent of marriage equality, the aptly named Family Leader--headed by former GOP gubernatorial candidate Bob Vander Plaats--will be holding a prayer meeting in support of the bill this afternoon.

And, they're announcing that “several of us plan to bring a token of Christian love (like a small bag of cookies or other treats) to share with homosexual activists who we'll be encountering Monday. It's time we dispel lies about Christians, by tangibly showing love to people who struggle with homosexuality.”

Oh, well, if you're bringing cookies, then the gays will simply take some, dunk them in milk, and go home, into the closet, never to be heard from again.

Hate cookies.
Now, I've heard everything.

source