Dueling media events on same-sex marriage on Tuesday

The Family Leader, a conservative Christian organization, will hold a rally in the Capitol Rotunda aimed at convincing the state Senate's Democratic leaders to take up a proposed constitutional amendment prohibiting same-sex marriages. A coalition of groups supporting gays' right to marry, meanwhile, will hold a press conference outside the building responding to the earlier rally....

DesMoins Register • Mar 19, 2012

Iowa Poll: Majority opposes ban on same-sex marriage

The poll found that 38 percent favor a legislative initiative to pass a constitutional amendment, while 56 percent are against. Six percent aren't sure. The findings show little movement on the issue from February 2011, when 40 percent of those surveyed supported passing an amendment, while 54 percent were opposed....

DesMoins Register • Feb 27, 2012

Iowa Republican launches campaign in support of same-sex marriage

A former Republican senator next week will unveil a new advocacy group for conservatives who support same-sex marriage. The group, being launched by former Sen. Jeff Angelo, challenges the GOP's standard opposition to same-sex marriage. Support of same-sex marriage has traditionally been viewed as a 'liberal' stand, which Angelo - who calls himself a conservative - rejects....

DesMoins Register • May 29, 2011

Same-sex marriage campaign is aimed at Iowa conservatives

A campaign to persuade conservatives to support same-sex marriage as Iowa's GOP presidential caucuses ramp up will rely on appealing to people's sense of fairness and support for a limited government. Leaders of One Iowa, a group that supports gay marriage in Iowa, said they plan to travel to conservative pockets of the state to urge Republicans to speak out on the issue. The public face of the ...

DesMoins Register • Mar 23, 2011

Harkin rethinks stance on federal marriage law

U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin said Thursday that he's reconsidering his support for a federal law that's opposed by same-sex marriage advocates. The Iowa Democrat voted in 1996 in support of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which defined marriage as a legal union between a man and a woman for purpose of all federal laws. It also says that states are not required to recognize a marriage from another st...

DesMoins Register • Mar 22, 2011

Bill in Iowa House aims to protect same-sex marriage objectors

House Study Bill 50, called the Religious Conscience Protection Act, would allow a person, business or organization such as a charity or fraternal group to deny services without fear of facing a civil claim or lawsuit if they think doing so would validate or recognize same-sex relationships. The same-sex exclusion is by itself constitutionally troubling, several legal scholars and civil rights ac...

DesMoins Register • Feb 8, 2011

2 Senate Democrats say loyalty to process trumps support for marriage amendment

A handful of Senate Democrats who would be the deciding votes on a same-sex marriage amendment said Tuesday they won't join minority Republicans to force a vote this year. Barring a change of heart, that means the effort to allow a public vote on a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage is dead in the Iowa Legislature this session....

DesMoins Register • Feb 3, 2011

Same-sex marriage arguments: This is about rights, speakers say

House Joint Resolution 6 is expected to pass through a House Committee process later today. It goes beyond limiting same-sex marriage by also excluding what its authors say are domestic partnerships or civil unions....

DesMoins Register • Jan 26, 2011

Democratic leader in Iowa Senate vows he'll block vote on gay marriage

Despite sweeping GOP gains in Iowa government Tuesday, one Democratic senator will thwart efforts to allow Iowans a vote on gay marriage. Republicans will occupy the governor's office and will control the Iowa House next year, and there's a chance that final results could give Republicans a 25-25 deadlock in the Iowa Senate. But Senate Democrats will maintain at least equal power -- which will g...

DesMoins Register • Nov 4, 2010

Iowa Guard will still oust married gays

Gay and lesbian military service members who are legally married in Iowa can still be involuntarily discharged from the Iowa National Guard and other military branches under a federal law that prevents homosexuals from openly serving in the armed forces, military officials say. The federal law, approved by Congress in 1993, takes precedence over the Iowa Supreme Court ruling in April that legaliz...

DesMoins Register • May 4, 2009

State to counties: Obey gay marriage ruling, issue certificates

Some Iowa county recorders say they have contemplated refusing to give a marriage license to gay couples who walk into the office, but so far none is vowing to do so. "This is putting us in a very, very difficult position here," Wayne County Recorder Angela Horton said Thursday in an interview. "But sometimes you have to put aside your personal beliefs, your religious beliefs, when you're doing a...

DesMoins Register • Apr 18, 2009

Constitutional convention opens a very wide door

If Iowans choose to open the hood on the Iowa Constitution, it could invite all sorts of tinkering, law professors and state lawmakers said Tuesday. Voters soon will have a once-a-decade chance to step around lawmakers and update the Constitution on their own. A constitutional convention is a heady thought for Iowans who see that as a possible way to put the brakes on gay marriage in Iowa. "I'm...

DesMoins Register • Apr 8, 2009

Marriage ruling may boost Iowa economy

Businesses could see $160 million in new wedding and tourism spending over the next three years, according to a study from researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles. "Iowa pretty much has the Midwest all to itself," said Lee Badgett, a University of Massachusetts economist who co-authored the 2008 report. "It's in the middle of a lot of states that have a lot of same-sex couples....

DesMoins Register • Apr 6, 2009

Iowa Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage set for release Friday

The case, Varnum vs. Brien, involves six same-sex Iowa couples who sued Polk County Recorder Timothy Brien in 2005, after his office denied them marriage licenses. Polk County District Judge Robert Hanson sided with the couples in a ruling last year, but he suspended his decision until the high court speaks. The case would have consequences outside the state's borders. Iowa would become the firs...

DesMoins Register • Apr 2, 2009

Gay-marriage resolution in Sioux City is on hold

Mayor Mike Hobart said he pushed for the delay to allow for advice from the state attorney general's office "on whether we have the jurisdiction and authority to pass the resolution," which was proposed by City Councilman Brent Hoffman....

DesMoins Register • Dec 16, 2008

Attorneys conclude Supreme Court arguments in gay marriage case

Johnson criticized Polk County's arguments about possible long-term damage to marriage as "highly speculative," and cast the law as an intrusion on equal rights....

DesMoins Register • Dec 10, 2008