Gay Pride event in Des Moines draws biggest turnout
Sunday’s PrideFest festival in Des Moines had its biggest turnout in its 30 years following the April ruling by the Iowa Supreme Court that allowed same-sex marriage.For Jack Barnhart and Bob Schanke, who were married June 6 after waiting 25 years, the day was the perfect opportunity to celebrate their marriage.The Pleasant Hill couple, decked out in rainbow flags, carried yellow-and-red signs reading “Just Married.” They strolled down the PrideFest parade to the sound of cheers, congratulations and the clicks of cameras. See Gay Pride event in Des Moines draws biggest turnout DesMoinesRegister.com
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Gay marriage law’s impact on Iowans subtle, yet powerful DesMoinesRegister.com -Gay marriage law’s impact on Iowans subtle, yet powerful
The April marriage ruling hasn’t enticed Jean and George Huffey’s two gay children to move back to Iowa from Wisconsin and Indiana, as the two parents had hoped.
Not many same-sex couples have relocated here in the two short months since the Iowa Supreme Court ruled on April 3 that both gay and straight couples have equal rights to marriage, anecdotal evidence suggests.
“It’s going to take time,” said Des Moines real estate agent Mindi McCoy, who had two same-sex clients from New York City look at properties, then decide against purchasing. “We’re still in kind of this honeymoon stage, no pun intended.”
Gay culture is sharply in focus this weekend as thousands gather to celebrate at the Capital City PrideFest in Des Moines. The Des Moines Register interviewed dozens of gays and lesbians to identify early trends since the first marriages took place April 27, including the effects on the ease of coming out of the closet, family relationships, religion, business, politics and the underground gay sex scene.
The changes in Iowa since the ruling are subtle but powerful to the individuals affected, according to both advocates and opponents.
Same-sex married couples who live here said they are already experiencing firsthand how Iowa law still treats them differently from opposite-sex couples.
Of the hundreds of same-sex Iowa couples who are now married - no state agency tracks the number of same-sex unions - some said they feel less guarded about holding hands or sharing a kiss in certain public settings.
“At your job, you don’t feel like you can’t have a picture of you and your partner up,” said Des Moines resident Justin De Vries.
Marriage seems to have been embraced mainly by same-sex couples with a history together: five years, a decade, 20 years or more. Some faith leaders have committed acts of quiet rebellion to marry them, even as their churches remain locked in debate over same-sex weddings.
“People are taking this as a very serious issue,” said Sharon Malheiro, a Des Moines lawyer. Couples are asking: ” ‘If we get married, what will the impact be? What are our obligations to each other?’ They’re not being nonchalant about it.”
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Same-Sex Unions Supplant Abortion As Social Priority for Conservatives In Fight Over High Court Pick
As President Obama prepares to name his first Supreme Court justice, conservatives in Washington are making clear that his nominee will face plenty of questions during the confirmation process on the legal underpinnings of same-sex marriage.
In addition to shedding more light on the nation’s most contentious unfolding social drama and legal frontier, Senate Republicans say the debate could provide a road map to an Obama nominee’s judicial philosophy.
“It may reflect the degree to which they think that they’re not bound by the classical meaning of the Constitution, and that they may want to let a personal agenda go beyond what the law said,” said Sen. Jeff Sessions (Ala.), the senior Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Questions on social issues in confirmation hearings have tended for the past 30 years to focus squarely on abortion, with partisans from both sides poring over a nominee’s writings and rulings and presidents typically denying that any “litmus test” was employed in the selection.
Same-sex marriage carries the same freighted potential to dominate a hearing, conservatives say.
“It is now the flash point where politics and law meet. That flash point used to be abortion. I don’t think anybody thinks that’s going to be the flash point in this nomination,” said William A. Jacobson, a Cornell University law professor and conservative blogger.
Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (Utah), another GOP member of the Judiciary Committee, said conservatives are particularly eager to avoid a Supreme Court ruling akin to the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized abortion nationwide and has divided the country ever since. “I don’t think members of the court, or any of us, ever want to see a decision like that again,” Hatch said. Obama assured the senator in a recent meeting that he will not pick a “radical” to replace Souter, but Hatch added: “Presidents always say that. That’s why we have the hearing process.”
Same-sex marriage gained national resonance in the wake of last month’s Iowa Supreme Court ruling that legalized the practice in that state. And in the two weeks since Justice David H. Souter announced his retirement, Maine also legalized same-sex marriage, becoming the fifth state to do so; the New Hampshire legislature sent a marriage-equality bill to the governor; the New York State Assembly approved gay-marriage legislation; and the District of Columbia voted to recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere.
Those actions, in so short a time, have outstripped the ability of Democrats in Washington to stake out their public position on the issue. MORE at Washington Post
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Harkin: Gay couples can be good parents
Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin said today he prefers children to be adopted into heterosexual marriages, if all other factors are equal, but that some gay couples are better parents.Harkin’s mixed feelings disappointed some longtime supporters in Iowa’s gay community and raised the question of how other elected officials who support the Iowa Supreme Court’s ruling allowing gay marriage feel about same-sex adoptions.
“I’m just saying that, if everything was equal, I guess my proclivity would be to have a heterosexual couple, Harkin said during a conference call with reporters.Harkin had previously said he preferred adoptions by heterosexual couples. He was asked today if he still felt that way, in light of the ruling allowing same-sex marriage.He said heterosexual couples do not always make better parents than same-sex couples.“I don’t want to practice armchair psychology here or anything like that. I guess it’s my own feelings on that,” Harkin said. “But I’m saying there may be times when that is not the best — because I’ve known gay couples who have raised children, and they’ve done great in doing that, and the children did not grow up to necessarily be gay or lesbian.” See Harkin: Gay couples can be good parents
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Where? Adair County supervisors demand Iowa gay marriage ban! Where?
The Adair County Board of Supervisors has passed a resolution demanding that the Iowa Legislature take action to either end same-sex marriage in Iowa, or let the public vote on the matter.
Chairman Clifford Sheriff read the resolution before the board’s vote this morning.
“Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Adair County Board of Supervisors demand that the Iowa (Legislature) resolve this issue by either passing legislation that will lead to a public vote to amend the Iowa Constitution or by passing legislation to confirm Iowa Code Section 595.2 to the Iowa Supreme Court (decision) in Varnum and Brien,” Chairman Sheriff read aloud.
The section of law Sheriff referenced is the 1998 “Defense of Marriage Act” which most legal scholars argue has been voided by the Iowa Supreme Court’s decision. The five-member Adair County Board of Supervisors passed their resolution, without debate.
“I’ll move we approve the resolution for review of the Defense of Marriage Act,” one of the supervisors said.
Another quickly added his “second” to move the process forward.
“We have a first and a second to approve the resolution,” Chairman Sheriff announced. “All in favor signify by saying, ‘Aye,’” Sheriff advised and all five replied in the affirmative.
The supervisors then continued with their board meeting.
A few Iowa city councils and county boards of supervisors have pondered similar resolutions against gay marriage. In February — two months before the Iowa Supreme Court ruling legalized gay marriage — the Sioux City City Council passed a resolution urging state legislators to set the date for a statewide vote on a constitutional amendment which would ban gay marriage.
See
Adair County supervisors demand statewide vote on gay marriage
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With Gay Issues in View, Obama Is Pressed to Engage
WASHINGTON — President Obama was noticeably silent last month when the Iowa Supreme Court overturned the state’s ban on same-sex marriage.
But now Mr. Obama — who has said he opposes same-sex marriage as a Christian but describes himself as a “fierce advocate of equality” for gay men and lesbians — is under pressure to engage on a variety of gay issues that are coming to the fore amid a dizzying pace of social, political, legal and legislative change.
Two of Mr. Obama’s potential Supreme Court nominees are openly gay; some advocates, irked that there are no gay men or lesbians in his cabinet, are mounting a campaign to influence his choice to replace Justice David H. Souter, who is retiring. Same-sex marriage is advancing in states — the latest to allow it is Maine — and a new flare-up in the District of Columbia could ultimately put the controversy in the lap of the president.
Mr. Obama’s new global health initiative has infuriated activists who say he is not financing AIDS programs generously enough. And while the president has urged Congress to pass a hate crimes bill, a high priority for gay groups, he has delayed action on one of his key campaign promises, repealing the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” rule.
Social issues like same-sex marriage bring together deeply held principles and flashpoint politics, and many gay activists, aware that Mr. Obama is also dealing with enormous challenges at home and overseas, have counseled patience.
But some are unsettled by what they see as the president’s cautious approach. Many are still seething over his choice of the Rev. Rick Warren, the evangelical pastor who opposes same-sex marriage, to deliver the invocation at his inaugural, and remain suspicious of Mr. Obama’s commitment to their cause.
In the words of David Mixner, a writer, gay activists are beginning to wonder, “How much longer do we give him the benefit of the doubt?” Last weekend, Richard Socarides, who advised President Bill Clinton on gay issues, published an opinion piece in The Washington Post headlined, “Where’s our fierce advocate?”
The White House, aware of the discontent, invited leaders of some prominent gay rights organizations to meet Monday with top officials, including Jim Messina, Mr. Obama’s deputy chief of staff, to plot legislative strategy on the hate crimes bill as well as “don’t ask, don’t tell.” Among those attending was Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, who said afterward that while the gay rights agenda might not be “unfolding exactly as we thought,” he was pleased. See With Gay Issues in View, Obama Is Pressed to Engage New York Times -* Tags = gay men gay news lesbian news transgender bisexual
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17 gay couples bus to Iowa, marry, go back to Missouri
Iowa City, Ia. — Friday was a long, busy day for 17 gay and lesbian couples from Missouri.
They were awake by 4 a.m., hopped on a bus to Iowa City around 6 a.m., said “I do” in the afternoon and were unmarried by the time they returned home Friday evening.
The couples took advantage of the Iowa Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage in the Hawkeye State. But, back home in Missouri, where a constitutional amendment defines marriage as only between a man and a woman, their Iowa certificates documenting a legal bond carries little weight. “We knew when we get back there our legal status will be the same as it was,” said Julie Brueggemann, 35, of St. Louis. “Hopefully, one day in the not too distant future, Missouri will be as open as Iowa is.”
The Unitarian Universalist Society in Iowa City hosted the 17 weddings. Each couple, one by one, stood before a minister, said vows, were pronounced wed and kissed.
“It’s a unique experience. How many other people can say they got married with 16 other couples?” said Kim Coleman, 32, of Florissant, Mo. She and Kimberly Banks-Brown, 38, have been together for five years. “But, it’s a logistical nightmare.”
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360+ same-sex couples apply for marriage licenses; most in Polk Co.
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Gay marriage comes to Iowa today
(Des Moines, Iowa) The only gay couple who were legally wed in Iowa are looking forward to getting some company.
Iowa county clerks were to begin processing same-sex marriage applications Monday, following the Iowa Supreme Court’s ruling on April 3 that legalized same sex-marriage. Iowa typically requires a three-day waiting period …
Tags: County Clerks, Des Moines, Gay Couple, gay marriage, Iowa County, Iowa Court, Iowa Supreme Court, marriage, Marriage Applications, Moines Iowa, same sex marriage, Waiting PeriodGrassley: Think long-term in gay marriage fight
JOHNSTON, Iowa - U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley said conservatives opposed to the Iowa Supreme Court’s gay marriage ruling should focus on long-term planning.
Grassley acknowledged he’s taking a lower profile on the issue than some Republicans, but he said that’s because a bipartisan approach is needed.
Speaking Thursday night during a taping of the public television program “Iowa Press,” Grassley argued gay marriage opponents should look toward the next election and future legislative sessions.
“It ought to be thoroughly planned,” said Grassley. “I don’t think it should be planned for just this year or next year, because this Legislature is about over. I think you ought to plan what you are going to do for the next election, for the next Legislature.”
Democratic leaders in the Legislature have opposed beginning the process of amending the Iowa Constitution to overrule the state Supreme Court’s April 3 decision. Two consecutive General Assemblies must approve a proposed constitutional amendment before it could be put to voters.
Grassley said social conservatives should begin building the political base needed to deal with the court’s decision.
“If there’s going to be any action taken contrary to the Supreme Court’s decision, then it should be to seek as broad a consensus as possible,” he said.
The four-term Republican senator said gay marriage opponents should realize the issue doesn’t break along partisan lines.
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