Iowans receiving calls from Rep. King

U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Kiron, has a reputation, and he’s not afraid to use it.

“For some reason my voice is distinct and people recognize my voice and also my name and they associate it whole family effort,” King said. “I don’t know if anybody in the state would do that message in a fashion that could be more effective.”

That message comes in the form of automated calls from King, who first asks whether residents throughout the state support the recent Iowa Supreme Court decision to allow same-sex marriage.

Resident Joni Gillispie supports the Supreme Court decision and told the congressman’s voice that when she answered the phone Tuesday afternoon. After that, all she heard was a click and dial tone telling her the call was over.

“If they say that this … judge-made law is a good idea, then we don’t keep them on the phone much longer than that, as you can imagine,” King said.

King is doing the calls in collaboration with long-time friend and head of the National Organization of Marriage Maggie Gallagher. He said he simply wanted to lend a hand to the organization’s effort. He said by working with NOM, it allows him to draw on their national resources, rather than take from Iowa.

“It’s important to get the message out and get them mobilized,” King said.

For those like resident Leo Hallowell who don’t agree with the decision, the calls ask the residents to contact their lawmakers to request a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman. See

Iowans receiving calls from Rep. King Burlington Hawk Eye

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Professional groups back gay marriage BurlingtonFreePress.com

Same-sex marriage rights got an endorsement Monday from four Vermont professional organizations who cited research findings that “children of lesbian and gay parents are as likely as those of heterosexual parents to flourish.”

They also said gay and lesbian parents are as likely as their heterosexual counterparts to provide healthy environments for children and that “there is no credible scientific evidence” relating parenting effectiveness to sexual orientation.

Their statement, which comes as the Vermont legislature prepares to consider same-sex marriage legislation, was released at a news conference called by the Vermont Psychological Association, the Vermont Psychiatric Association, the Vermont Association of Mental Health Counselors and the Vermont chapter of the National Association of Social Workers.

Speaking on the organizations’ behalf, Jackie Weinstock, an associate professor in the department of integrated professional studies at the University of Vermont, said the groups wanted to “set the record straight” by rebutting contentions by gay-marriage opponents that children raised by single-sex parents fare less well than their counterparts in heterosexual families.

“No study has shown that outcomes for children of single-sex families are any less positive than outcomes for children in heterosexual families,” Weinstock said. She said contrary findings sometimes cited by opponents apply in part to children of divorced parents, not exclusively to children of single-sex parents. She acknowledged that national studies of children in same-sex parents have been limited by small research samples. See Professional groups back gay marriage BurlingtonFreePress.com

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VT Leaders vow to pass gay marriage bill

MONTPELIER — State legislative leaders announced this afternoon they intend to take up a gay marriage bill when the Legislature reconvenes in two weeks.
Senate President Pro Tempore Peter Shumlin and Speaker of the House Shap Smith said at a join news conference at the Statehouse that the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a week of testimony and a public hearing on the matter. They predicted a bill would emerge from committee by week’s end.