One Iowa launches campaign to protect gay marriage

[WillParkinson]

One Iowa launches campaign to protect gay marriage

In an effort to highlight the positive impact of legal gay marriage in Iowa, One Iowa launched its “Letters to Mr. Branstad” campaign this week.

The campaign targets Republican gubernatorial frontrunner Terry Branstad in an attempt to persuade him of the need to protect the 2009 Iowa Supreme Court ruling that found the state’s previous ban on gay marriage unconstitutional. Branstad served as the Iowa’s governor from 1983 to 1999.

Iowa became the third state in the nation to legalize gay marriage when the state Supreme Court ruled a 1998 ban unconstitutional last April. About 2,000 same-sex couples have married as of May 2010. Iowa however, is not free from the fear of repeal.

Gay rights activists fear the question of whether to repeal gay marriage could become a ballot initiative. The process to amend Iowa’s state constitution via ballot initiative is at least a four-year effort. The state House and Senate have to pass the initiative by majority vote for two consecutive sessions, each session lasting two years. Only then can the initiative reach the voters.

http://www.365gay.com/news/one-iowa-launches-campaign-to-protect-gay-marriage/

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Convince him to be open-minded? Riiiiiiight.

[murielm99]

1. I live in Illinois, but I am not that far from the Iowa border.

We watch Iowa television stations and sometimes read Iowa newspapers. We own property in Iowa and visit there regularly.

I have not seen much media coverage of this as an issue. And gay marriage seems to be a non-issue for most Iowans. Even if they don't especially care for gay people, they seem to mind their own business.