Judge Strikes Down Iowa Gay Marriage Ban

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»

Gays have right to marry member of opposite sex, she insists

(NEWSER) - Michele Bachmann returned to one of her favorite issues in her bid to woo Iowa voters yesterday, calling for an end to gay marriage in the state. "Marriage, historically, for all human history, has been between a man and a woman. It hasn't been the same-sex marriage," Bachmann said on Fox News. The candidate added that Iowans support her, pointing to the ouster by state voters last year of three out of seven state Supreme Court justices after conservatives lashed the judges for striking down a law restricting marriage to straight couples. Bachmann was asked earlier this week where she stood on equal rights for gays and gay marriage—click for her headline-generating response . More»

Iowan Zach Wahls explains his speech

(NEWSER) - Zach Wahls became an Internet celebrity in February, when he passionately defended gay families in a speech to Iowa lawmakers that went viral. You may have seen it going around again yesterday, as Wahls surged in popularity once again thanks to an "Ask Me Anything" session on Reddit. So, why did the 19-year-old decide to make his now-famous speech against a constitutional amendment that would have banned gay marriage in the state? Well, it was that issue "combined with the fact that this was at the tail end of that string of suicides by gay and lesbian kids" that served as "a huge wake-up call," he explained. More»

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»