Same-sex marriage issue focus of competing rallies

DES MOINES – Sunday's political rhetoric over the same-sex marriage issue was as hot as the August sun as traditionalists called November's election a “test of faith” and first-lady Mari Culver took her first public stance defending an Iowa court decision legalizing civil marriages for gays and lesbians.

“I honor our court's decision,” Culver told nearly 300 participants at a downtown rally organized by One Iowa, the state's largest gay-lesbian advocacy group. “We do not support amending the state's constitution to add a provision which our state's highest court has said is unlawful and discriminatory.”

The first lady stressed she was speaking for herself as a private citizen at Sunday's event on a topic that she expected would be “a defining issue” in Iowa's Nov. 2 general election. However, she urged the One Iowa “stand proud, vote proud” rally participants to “get energized” because “there are those out there who would move further and further to the right in order to appeal to the right-wing of their party” – a not-so-veiled reference to former Gov. Gov. Terry Branstad, the Republican challenging her husband, Democratic Gov. Chet Culver this November.

A short time earlier Sunday, Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage, made a stop outside the Iowa Capitol building as part of a nationwide tour to advocate for defining marriage as only between one man and one woman. He said he expected his group would contribute money to individual candidates and finance issue advertisements in support of giving Iowans a chance to vote on amending the Iowa constitution to restore traditional one-man, one-woman only marriage.

“We're not just coming with words, we're coming with action,” Brown told nearly 100 traditional marriage supporters who rallied at the state Capitol.

“Iowa is a key, key state in the fight for marriage,” he said. “We're here activating and energizing supporters in Iowa to stand up and say enough is enough. The people should have a chance to vote.”

Danny Carroll, chairman of Iowa Family Policy Center ACTION, urged rally participants to vote for candidates for Iowa elective offices who will support giving the people a vote on a constitutional amendment on marriage and to vote against three Iowa Supreme Court justices who will be up for voter retention on the November ballot.

“We had a major shift in policy on marriage and you had no input whatsoever. You simply woke up one morning and you were told that this is the way it is going to be and that's the way they're treated it today,” he said.

Carroll said the marriage issue is not something that likely will be decided by one election.

“Whether or not we win this contest in November of this year or November 30 years from now, our job is not to prevail. This is not a contest where there are winners or losers,” he said. “Ladies and gentlemen, this is a test of your faith. Will you be found faithful and accountable to the creator of this universe or not.”

One Iowa executive director Carolyn Jenison said it was interesting that a New Jersey-based group would be spearheading a “reclaim Iowa project.” She noted that about 2,500 gay and lesbian couples have been married in Iowa since the Iowa Supreme Court's unanimous April 2009 ruling and that Iowa voters have rejected attempts by “out-of-state extremist organizations (to) hijack our political process and demean our families.”

House Speaker Pat Murphy, D-Dubuque, said Iowa has a tradition as a progressive state in defending equality and civil rights of all Iowans and it is in that spirit that Democrats who control the Legislature have blocked attempts to write discrimination into the Constitution with an amendment defining marriage as only for unions involving one man and one woman.

“You need to hang onto this and fight for this,” Murphy told the One Iowa rally. “If they're able to get discrimination in the constitution, it will be a long, hard fight to get it out.”

However, Brown countered that gay-rights' special interests “bought and paid for” leaders of the Iowa Legislature and the real civil right at stake is the people's right to vote on a policy decision made by seven unelected Supreme Court justices.

“Here in Iowa you're being told you don't have the right to vote. You're being told you need to give up, go back home, the judges have made their decision and it's a done deal,” he said. “We need to stand up for our civil rights.”

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