Iowa Supreme Court Upholds Gay Marriage

Launch campaign to defeat justices who legalized it

(NEWSER) - Opponents of same-sex marriage have launched a full-scale campaign to vote out the Iowa Supreme Court justices whose ruling legalized the practice. “We need to vote them off the bench to send a message across Iowa that we, the people, still have the power,” Bob Vander Plaats, the Republican politician heading the effort, tells the Washington Post . His staff is planning a full range of mailers, phone calls, and door-to-door campaigning. More»

(NEWSER) - Gay marriages will begin taking place in Iowa on April 24, the Des Moines Register reports. The state supreme court’s ruling today that prohibiting the unions is unconstitutional applies to Iowans as well as visitors, because the state has no residency laws for marriage. “I’m off the wall,” said a Democratic state senator who is gay. “I’m very pleased to be an Iowan.” More»

Advocates and opponents of same-sex unions dig in

(NEWSER) - Iowa’s Supreme Court will review a state law banning gay marriage next month, the Los Angeles Times reports. A district judge last year struck down the Defense of Marriage Act on the grounds that it violated state constitutional rights of equal protection, but nine hours later that decision was appealed to the high court. More»

Decision could cause problems during election in key states

(NEWSER) - President Obama’s official embrace of gay marriage will certainly energize some of his supporters, but it’s also sure to give him grief in these seven states, as rounded up by Politico :

• North Carolina: As evidenced by the recently-passed constitutional amendment banning it, gay marriage is not very popular with voters here. And North Carolina is not only a swing state—it will also host this year’s Democratic National Convention.
• Florida: To put it bluntly, senior citizens don’t tend to like gay marriage. Plus, a high percentage of them vote, and a large number of them live in Florida. An anti-gay marriage amendment passed by a landslide in 2008.

Man calls encounter 'disheartening'

(NEWSER) - Oskaloosa, Iowa native Scott Arnold is a gay Democrat, but he says he went to a Newt Gingrich event at the Smokey Row coffee house yesterday with an open mind. “I asked him if he’s elected, how does he plan to engage gay Americans. How are we to support him,” he tells the Des Moines Register . “And he told me to support Obama.” And hey, why not? It's what Newt's gay half-sister is doing . More»