As I'm sure you all know by now, the Iowa Supreme Court unanimously struck down our 1998 Defense of Marriage Act.
However, our opponents are contacting our state legislators far more than we have, though the actions those of us who already have are greatly appreciated - we need to thank our legislators for their previous support of the GLBT rights movement and urge them to stand strong against the efforts of those who oppose it.
While it's been widely noted that Democratic Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal (my senator!) has, for the time being, blocked any vote on any amendment measure in the State Senate, we have much more that can be done to strengthen the standing of the ruling.
Today, Governor Chet Culver (D) released a statement expressing hesitation about amending our Constitution. Here is the full text and here is a summary of his statement:
Yet, the Supreme Court of Iowa, in a unanimous decision, has clearly stated that the Constitution of our state, which guarantees equal protection of the law to all Iowans, requires the State of Iowa to recognize the civil marriage contract of two people of the same gender. The Court also concluded that the denial of this right constitutes discrimination. Therefore, after careful consideration and a thorough reading of the Court’s decision, I am reluctant to support amending the Iowa Constitution to add a provision that our Supreme Court has said is unlawful and discriminatory.
If you would like to contact him and urge him to keep his stance (and strengthen it), call his office at 515.281.5211.
And/or you can email him here or here with a pre-written message.
One of the least vocal Iowan legislators on the issue is Democratic House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy. The number of his office is 515.281.7497.
He can also be emailed with a pre-written message here, or you can contact him directly at kmccart@gmail.com.
Additionally, if you are from Iowa, you can contact your representative here or find out how to contact your legislator in other ways, here.
Lastly, but just as importantly, if you would like to donate to the primary Iowa gay rights organization that will be battling any attempts at enshrining discrimination into our state Constitution, feel free to donate to OneIowa.
Any action is greatly appreciated.
And I apologize for the abundance of the word "here" being linked.
Also, take a visit to the Des Moines Register's website and vote in their poll asking for views on if we should proceed with a constitutional amendment or not.
UPDATE: I came across Majority Leader Mike Gronstal's thoughts on a possible constitutional convention (which gave me a couple lols), which Iowans vote on every ten years.
"I’m inclined to hope they succeed, if that’s their strategy," said Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, who has saluted Friday’s Iowa Supreme Court ruling legalizing gay marriage. "There’s a lot of good, progressive issues that we could pursue: a woman’s right to choose, guaranteed health care for all Iowa citizens, workers’ rights — so if there are people that want to help us get to a constitutional convention, that’s kind of my dream world."
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/...