During an event in Audubon, Iowa in March of 2011, Vander Plaats explained that many Iowans were concerned about the state becoming "the butt of jokes" in the aftermath of a state Supreme Court decision which found that a law prohibiting same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. He was then interrupted by an attendee who recalled a joke his wife tells about the "fags" marrying in Iowa law. Vander Plaats erupts in laughter: