So it turns out Iowa is pretty darn liberal on gay rights

[ruggerson]

Makes you wonder if, in a very, very close election, the gay vote there could tip things one way or another.

Wouldn't that be interestingly ironic. :)

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-iowa30dec30,0,6046543.story?coll=la-politics-campaign

By Maria L. La Ganga, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
December 30, 2007

DES MOINES -- The two young men in neat oxford shirts stand on the shady front lawn and hug. Brand-new wedding bands gleam on their ring fingers. Cameras click. They are oblivious. Happy. And legally married.

"This is it," Sean Fritz told Tim McQuillan in August, after the rapid-fire ceremony in a Unitarian minister's yard here in the middle of middle America. "I love you."

As Iowans ponder whom to support in the Jan. 3 caucuses, their state is the first in the heartland to even consider legalizing same-sex marriage -- placing Iowa again in the vanguard and reminding the Democratic presidential hopefuls that progressives here help shape history.

Much of coastal blue-state America has long dismissed the Hawkeye State as it has the rest of "flyover country" -- all conservatives, cornfields and clapboard churches -- ignoring a succession of cultural and legal firsts and liberal politicians who made their way to Washington.

The tradition includes Henry A. Wallace, the vice president whom Franklin D. Roosevelt jettisoned because of the Iowan's extreme left leanings, and Sen. Tom Harkin, who bragged in a recent campaign e-mail that "in the Congress, there is no one who has stood stronger against President Bush than I have."

Iowa public schools were desegregated nearly a century ahead of 1954's Brown vs. the Board of Education of Topeka. The state was the first to admit a woman to the bar, in 1869 -- three years before the Supreme Court ruled that states could deny women the right to practice law. Iowa City, with its renowned writing program, became a nuclear-free zone even before Berkeley. And there is no death penalty in the state.

"I spend a lot of time talking to people about how Iowa is not like the states that surround it," said Lisa Hardaway, spokeswoman for Lambda Legal, a gay-rights group that brought the lawsuit that led to the Fritz-McQuillan nuptials. "It's not like Nebraska."

[dsc]

1. not exactly

It was one judge, who stayed his ruling four hours later. That couple is literally unique. It is the one and only married couple in Iowa.

[ruggerson]

3. Oh, I know

but read the full article. It implies the liberals there are very pro gay rights, which jives with my perception of most of the folks I've met from there.

[dsc]

5. In fairness they are fairly good on those issues

Iowa is much like Minnesota in large parts of the state.

[ruggerson]

6. Exactly

which, in a close caucus race....

[dsc]

7. the story of those men's marriage is so cute

I saw the pictures but now am going to hunt for a video.

[no name no slogan]

2. Don't be fooled. All of us in flyover country hate teh gheys

Hell, we just got indoor plumbin' last year

[IndianaJones]

4. could be a negative for Obama. nt.

[sjdnb]

8. Iowa reminds me of my grandmother ...

as does much of the upper Midwest (esp. MN, WI) - at least those who remember the lessons of their ancestors.

My grandmother was born in 1901 and came to this country in 1904. She didn't mind that folks spoke other languages, were from other cultures, or were otherwise 'different'. After all, she was 'different', too. And, when she landed in America, she lived among many who spoke different languages, had different beliefs, and had different cultural mores. She loved learning about other people's ideas, lives, cultures, and was understanding of human 'mistakes'. She had worked since the age of eight, so while she was for better, equal, pay for all - she never did feel as if she was expected to be kept in the kitchen.

She didn't understand the whole segregation thing. She didn't get why unwed mothers were shunned. She didn't get why people who were 'different' were also, often, considered abnormal, subordinate, or otherwise treated poorly - but, she had experienced it. After all, they were all 'different' at one time and their faith and practical experience taught them NOT to judge, but to be open and show compassion.

Without going into boring detail, I witnessed the fact that she lived her beliefs, too. Taking in folks when they needed a little help or sharing what she could, being open to new ideas and lifestyles, and showing a genuine interest in their lives, welfare, and happiness.

Now, she'd have made a great President!

[DU9598]

9. We are very progressive

The marriage issue is on its way to the Supreme Court, but honestly the citizens here are not much interested. The citizens of Iowa have already defeated a constitutional ban on gay marriage once, and if it is brought up again it will likely be defeated. Our state's civil rights code includes the full GLBT (yes, transgendered too) community. We have a safe school's bill that protect young gay students from harassment. I love living her and being fully accepted by all of my neighbors, coworkers, and peers.

I am just surprised that this is a surprise.

[dsc]

10. Iowa was ahead of Illinois when I was in school in the late 1980's

which was surprising but in Illinois the problem was the suburubs.