OH YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:eusa_clap:eusa_danc Go Iowa for being progressive! If only the rainbow could shine in the South. Now that would be truly groundbreaking.
I wish it would, I really do. I can't see it happening, though. At least not for a long time.... There's too many rednecks here in GA and the states around it. It's kind of random that Iowa did it, though. It's not the state I would have bet on to do it this soon. But still awesome nonetheless! :eusa_clap
I am still holding out that the california courts overturn prop 8. technically, it was not legal. Marriage is a legal institution, not a religous institution... hence why it existed thousands of years before the abrehamic religons gained prominace.
One of my best friends who lives in Iowa City called me Friday night and told me about this. I was SOOO stoked!
I can see where you're coming from, but it kind of irks me anyways. True, Iowa is in the fairly coservative Midwest, but we have a great track record for upholding equal rights, often before most other states and/or the federal government: http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/p...cle/20090405/OPINION01/904050320/1036/Opinion http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/p...cle/20090405/OPINION03/904050319/1035/Opinion (Those links might take you to a short survey first, but it's only four easy questions.)
An Iowa Backlash? An excellent piece on the options open to the right-wing to try to stop gay marriage in Iowa. With the somewhat surprisingly strong support of both the Speaker of the House and the Senate Majority Leader, the Republicans will have to take back control of both houses to even have a chance to get an amendment on the ballot. In some parts of the state they could win back a few seats, but Iowa has made a huge shift towards Democrats in the last few years, and I don't see the GOP making up too much ground. And even if they were somehow able to, it would be years from now, and time is on our side. An anti-gay marriage bill would likely lose if put up for a vote in 2014. Also interesting for Iowans who follow politics, Governor Culver has really screwed himself over this time. He has said before that he would do everything within his power to prevent gay marriage in Iowa, but now the rest of the Democratic leadership has come out supporting the SC. However, this could lead to the Republicans nominating somebody like Steve King to run against him. The state(and the nation)is moving away from far-right social conservatives like King, so despite it all Culver would likely win re-election in a landslide. But if the Republicans nominated somebody more moderate(which is very doubtful now), Culver would probably lose.
Update: Channel 5 news was running a promo saying a constitutional amendment could be on the ballot by the end of this year. I still don't know how that is possible, but I'm looking. AND, conservatives have found another route nobody thought of. A Constitutional Convention. The same thing that they tried (and failed at) in Connecticut. The next vote for a CC is in 2010. If the majority of Iowans vote for a CC, the legislature would select delegates to decide amendments that should be put to a vote of the people. The vote would happen in late 2011 at the earliest. But, they might still have to get both the Speaker and the Majority Leader out to ensure that a gay-marriage ban would be one of the selected amendments. Fortunately, CC's never get much support, and some powerful organizations in Iowa have reason to oppose them. But it's worrying, none-the-less.
I want a republican to stand before me, and make a valid reason why me marrying someone I love destorys their lives. If they can do it without bringing religon into it, party line, and without moral realitavisem, then I will stop fighting them. I have no fear in that happening, because you can not morally justify bigottry, no matter how many times you rewrite the bible.