Iowa state senator: Religious right won’t win Iowa marriage debate

Openly gay  Iowa state Sen. Matt McCoy says that same-sex marriage is in his state to stay following a unanimous Iowa Supreme Court decision to allow same-sex couples to wed there in 21 days. Religious right leaders immediately vowed to fight the decision with a constitutional amendment as they did with Prop 8, but Iowa is not California.

“There’s no way a flood of out-of-control money can be used to quickly scare Iowans into going backwards on civil rights,” McCoy, a Democrat, said in a video Friday. “And whether you’re gay or straight, think about coming to Iowa to get married.”

Iowa requires a constitutional amendment to pass the Legislature in two sessions, and each session runs a two-year span. The earliest voters could see an amendment is 2012, just in time for the Iowa presidential caucuses. But the religious right says it will try.

U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa: “Now it is the Iowa legislature’s responsibility to pass the Marriage Amendment to the Iowa Constitution, clarifying that marriage is between one man and one woman, to give the power that the Supreme Court has arrogated to itself back to the people of Iowa. Along with a constitutional amendment, the legislature must also enact marriage license residency requirements so that Iowa does not become the gay marriage Mecca due to the Supreme Court’s latest experiment in social engineering.”

Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council: “We urge Iowans to contact their legislators and urge them to move quickly to pass a constitutional amendment protecting marriage, joining the twenty-nine states that have already defined marriage as the union of one man and one woman in their state constitutions.”

Phyllis Schlafly of Eagle Forum: “We can never allow the definition of marriage to simply mean two consenting persons who agree to share quarters and start applying to the government for benefits. Eagle Forum calls on the Iowa state legislature to work to adopt a constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between one man and one woman only, and by subsequently passing a state law that withdraws jurisdiction from the state courts over this issue.”

Concerned Women for America: “Iowans need to look to the people of California for encouragement and begin working today to pass an amendment by asking our legislators to allow us a vote on an amendment. Sitting legislators should not only support a bill that would allow Iowans a say in the vote, but they should demand their constituents’ voices be heard by sponsoring the bill and offering to bring it to the floor. Any legislator not willing to sponsor such a bill is proving their loyalty is with political agendas and not with the people of Iowa or the intent of our Founding Fathers.”