Iowa GOP Rebuffed In Attempts To Roll Back Gay Marriage

Iowa Republicans failed yesterday to start a process of banning gay marriage through a state constitutional amendment. This means it will be at least 4 years before it could come up for a vote in the state.

According to an AP story, found at the Chicago Tribune,

The Republican lawmakers tried procedural moves to pull measures out of committees and force a vote, but they couldn't get enough votes in either the House or Senate.

"There are a lot of folks out there who say they support traditional marriage," said House Minority Leader Kraig Paulsen, R-Hiawatha, "This is an opportunity to back that up."

Once again, the frauds that inhabit the GOP set up a false argument. Allowing gay couples to marry has nothing to do with the 'support' of traditional marriage.

Democrats control both chambers in Iowa. As opposed to allegedly progressive states like New York and New Jersey, Democrats in the Hawkeye State actually are in sync on pro-glbt issues. In fact, the only House Democrat to side with the Republicans was Rep. Dolores Mertz of Ottosen. That should be remembered when it comes to re-election time.

In case there is any doubt, as bad as the Democrats have been, the GOP absolutely disdains gays and is intent on using gay-friendliness as a reason to vote against a candidate in 2010. It is a strategy that they proclaim proudly. Note the following laughable excerpt from the Tribune report:

Some Republicans said they'll now focus on using the Democrats' vote against them in November elections.

"While our bipartisan effort fell short of gaining the 26 votes needed to proceed, the voters this November will have an opportunity to decide if they are content with the continued Democratic obstruction and inaction," said Senate Minority Leader Paul McKinley, R-Chariton.

Is there an Alice in Wonderland quality to all this empty rhetoric? It sure would seem so.

The GOP has been successful in defeating gay marriage at the polls, with help from some key Democratic constituencies. Will they succeed in doing the same in Iowa? Not likely.

From Box Turtle Bulletin:

Last year (Republicans) made several attempts at getting an anti-gay marriage constitutional amendment up for a legislative vote and were unsuccessful. They chortled that Democrats would be sorry come election time.

But as it has turned out, running opposed to gay marriage has not proven to be a winning strategy. To their surprise, Iowans couldn’t care less about stopping gay folk from marrying. Literally.

The Des Moines Register conducted a poll of Iowans asking, “The state Legislature can address large and small issues during the course of the session. For the following issues, please tell me if you think the issue does or does not deserve the Legislature’s limited time.” Banning gay marriage did not make the cut; only 36% thought it was worth the time discussing.

Not only was it not deemed worthy of legislative time, of the six issues that Iowans were questioned about, addressing gay marriage concerned them the least. Iowans were more concerned about payday loans and puppy mills than they were about whether same-sex couples married.

It looks like the red meat that the GOP thought they had for their fanatical right-wing base is in short supply.