Iowa House of Reps Trying to Un-Marry Legally Married Couples

Image from source, The Advocate

Sure, as soon as we get a little good news (this time in Illinois), we get a little bad news. It always seems to go this way. In Iowa, where same-sex marriage is legal, the newly resurgent Republicans are looking to flex their muscles. That means doing something mean, naturally.  There are currently legally married same-sex couples in Iowa, but the GOP thinks they ought to be annulled, by popular vote. Because really, in America, shouldn't everyone's marriage be decided by other people? No? Okay, then here's the real reason. . .

Rather than focus on the economy or jobs, Republicans all over the country seem determined to resurrect every "culture war" issue that they've lost over the last few years.  They want to roll back any progress made by gay people of course. And they want to make at least token gestures to restrict abortion rights, so the base stays on board. After that, anything that makes President Obama or other prominent Democrats look bad. Only after all of those things are done will they (maybe) address more important issues.

The bad news is that this now becomes a ping-pong match. It used to be that when a civil right was won, it was won. Sure, you might have to fight to make sure your rights were respected and not infringed, but they weren't rolled back. Eventually, most people agree, same-sex marriage will end up being the law of the land. But how many times are we going to have to win it, lose it, and win it again? The good news is that Republicans show no signs of playing it cool. They're going to go balls-to-the-wall and overplay their hands again.

UPDATE: I wanted to add something. When I said the Republicans were being "mean," I wasn't just venting. This vote was to rescind existing rights to same-sex marriage, and also preclude civil unions, or any other legal recognition of any kind for same sex couples. That isn't "protecting marriage." That's just mean.

[Excerpt]

Iowa House Votes For Marriage Ban


The full Iowa house voted Tuesday afternoon to approve a resolution that proposes a constitutional amendment to ban marriage equality, which would effectively repeal the 2009 state supreme court decision that legalized marriage for same-sex couples. . .

Read more at: The Advocate