Tag: Iowa

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Iowa couple denied wedding venue because GAY

Gortz Haus owner Betty Odgaard

Lee Stafford and his fiance were turned away from a Grimes, Iowa wedding venue because they are gay. Betty Odgaard, owner of Gortz Haus, the venue where they had hoped to wed, says she denied them based on religious principles. She is a Mennonite.

KCCI reports:

“Can I have my beliefs without being ostracized for that? I think I have my right too, and to stand firm my convictions and beliefs,” said Odgaard.

Stafford said he has a new location for his wedding and said rejection hurts, but he will not let it affect his wedding.

“We are going to find some people that are still going to be reluctant to embrace us. That is just going to happen,” said Stafford.

Stafford said he plans to pursue his case with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission.

(via Towleroad)

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Iowa: House conservatives want to cut pay for justices who supported marriage equality


From The Gazette: A handful of House conservatives want to reduce the pay of Iowa Supreme Court justices involved in a 2009 decision striking down a ban on same-sex marriages as part of an effort to maintain the balance of power in state government.

“It’s our responsibility to maintain the balance of power” between the three co-equal branches of government, Rep. Tom Shaw, R-Laurens, said Tuesday.

The justices “trashed the separation of powers” with their unanimous Varnum v. Brien decision and implementation of same-sex marriage without a change in state law banning any marriages expect between one man and one woman, added Rep. Dwayne Alons, R-Hull.

Their amendment to House File 120, the judicial branch budget bill, would lower the salaries of the four justices on the seven-member court who were part of the unanimous Varnum v. Brein decision to $25,000 – the same as a state legislator.

It’s not meant to be punitive, Alons and Shaw said Tuesday.

“We’re just holding them responsible for their decision, for going beyond their bounds,” Shaw said.

That’s it – it’s not punitive.  It just punishes the justices who supported fairness and equality.

Mind you, these are the same Republicans who tried to oust these same state Supreme Court justices after their decision.

Read more at TheGazette.com

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Zach Wahls heads out on the road for marriage equality

Zach Wahls is headed out on a tour around Iowa sponsored by LBGT rights group One Iowa to talk to Iowans about why marriage matters.

According to One Iowa “Zach will be joining us in Council Bluffs, Sioux City, Mason City, Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Dubuque, and Davenport. He will be speaking at churches, town halls and house parties across the state.”

Click here for Zach’s schedule of appearances.

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Iowa “moving on” as it grows comfortable with marriage equality

Iowa conservatives have been hoping to soon regain control of the state legislature and then reverse the current law of marriage equality in the state.

ABC News reports, however, that that homophobic ship may have already sailed.

Conservative lawmakers are watching public opinion move away from them on the gay marriage issue, and now fear that voters might not approve a ban even if the GOP can put one on the ballot by winning control of the Legislature in the November elections.
The shifting views come as a bitter disappointment for the state’s prominent Christian conservative community which has long bridled at Iowa’s status as a gay rights haven in the heartland — the only place outside the Northeast where gays can marry.
“People are getting comfortable with it and that’s a shame to tell you the truth,” said Susan Geddes, an Iowa Republican and social conservative organizer who worked for Mike Huckabee’s 2008 presidential campaign in the state.

The Des Moines Register poll conducted last February found that 56% of Iowans oppose a ban on marriage equality. Meanwhile, a survey from 2009, the year Iowa’s Supreme Court ruled a ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional, found only 40% of Iowans opposed such anti-gay prohibitions, so clearly people are getting more than “comfortable with it.”

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Iowa celebrates 3 years of marriage equality

Celebrating three years of equality in the Heartland. And the sky continues to not fall.

On April 3, 2009, the Iowa Supreme Court – in a unanimous decision – extended the freedom to marry to loving, committed gay and lesbian couples in Iowa!

This is a story of American progress and shows, once again, how great this country can be.

Relive the day and Happy Anniversary, Iowa!

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Majority of Iowans oppose constitutional ban on same-sex marriage

A new poll shows that 56 percent of Iowa voters oppose a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

The Des Moines Register’s Iowa Poll says 56 percent of those polled earlier this month were against the proposed amendment. The poll says 38 percent favored the idea, while 6 percent weren’t sure.

A year ago, 40 percent of those surveyed supported an amendment, while 54 percent were opposed.

As opposition trends further downward, clearly, the future is clear on this issue.

It has been almost three years since the Iowa Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the state’s constitution guarantees marriage equality, and the Iowa Senate has blocked any efforts to define marriage as only a union between one man and one woman.
(source)