Sounding the alarm on equality

It's starting to get loud in Iowa's 1st Congressional District. I'm talking grab-your-earplugs loud.

On Tuesday, Democratic congressional hopeful Monica Vernon's campaign organized a protest outside of Republican U.S. Rep. Rod Blum's Cedar Rapids office. Her backers are unhappy with the congressman's support for the 'First Amendment Defense Act,” conservatives' legislative answer to June's Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide.

The bill seeks to shield organizations, businesses and people who oppose same-sex marriage on religious grounds from being penalized by the federal government. Its sign-wielding critics insisted it's actually intended to provide an escape hatch for people who want to sidestep the ruling and discriminate.

'Iowans do not support discrimination laws,” read one sign held by one of roughly 40 folks who showed up.

'Honk for Equality,” read another. Apparently, a hatchback with Virginia plates parked outside Blum's office is very, very supportive of equality. Thanks to a supersensitive car alarm, any time protesters or onlookers got close, its horn blared. 'HONK, HONK, HONK ...” Add that to loud chants of 'Stop the Hate!” and you had a decibel level roughly similar to a jumbo jet dropping a crate of wind chimes.

It was tough, for example, to understand exactly what Karen Blum, the congressman's wife, said to Vernon when she came out to confront her husband's potential rival.

'I think that's a disservice to women,” Karen Blum said, apparently complaining about Democrats' contention that the bill would allow a devout boss to fire a woman who became pregnant out of wedlock. Not true, she insists. I think that's what she said.

'Stop the hate!”

HONK ... HONK ... HONK ...

'We're here to protest him signing onto that bill,” Vernon told reporters as the alarm continued.

'As far as we can see from reading the bill, it is an attempt to legalize discrimination. It's also a very broadly written bill, which I think delves in to all sorts of things that perhaps people don't even realize. For example, a boss could fire a woman for being pregnant, a single woman for being pregnant,” Vernon said.

Referees' flags flew in from all directions. Politifact's 'Punditfact” fact-checker dubbed the unwed mother claim as 'false,” arguing the bill primarily is aimed at preventing feds from pulling a religious institution's tax-exempt status. But our own Gazette fact-checkers gave Blum an 'F” grade for claiming that the bill protects 'just churches.” It's potentially far broader than that, we concluded.

Offsetting penalties. Replay first down. HONK.

Vernon repeatedly called it a 'hate bill.” Actually, what its backers really hate is that there's precious little they can do to roll back the landmark ruling, and they're losing a surefire cultural wedge issue they once used to fire up the faithful. The bill is their attempt to keep the torches burning and the boogeymen alive, but there's zero chance it will become law.

Blum often touts his push to shake up the status quo. Unfortunately, in this case, he's endorsing tired, divisive politics as usual. Some voters may find that alarming.

l Comments: (319) 398-8452; todd.dorman@thegazette.com