There is no shortage of anger to the Iowa Supreme Court's decision concerning same-sex marriage rights as the quotes below highlight:
"Sen. Gronstal has formed a pact with the rabid homosexual rights lobby in Des Moines and is now working to ram their hostile agenda down your throat!"- Flyer from Iowa Biblical Families
"The Flood of 2008 is arguably the most destructive disaster that the state of Iowa has seen -- at least, that is, until last Friday."- Baptist Pastor from Cedar Rapids
"I believe this case is actually about going into churches and going in and attacking churches and saying you can't teach anything else."- Glenn Beck on Fox News (despite the Court's message that religious doctrine is unaffected)
"We believe the homosexual lifestyle is wrong... But we invite homosexuals to the church, and invite them to repent."- Rev. Keith Ratliff
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich says that a recent Iowa Supreme Court ruling legalizing gay marriage is "outrageously wrong." He says the decision demonstrated "judicial arrogance."
Bryan English, spokesman for the conservative Iowa Family Policy Center: “Sure, we are disappointed. I would say the mood is one of mourning right now in a lot of ways, and yet the first thing we did after internalizing the decision was to walk across the street and begin the process of lobbying our legislators to let the people of Iowa vote. The Iowa marriage amendment needs to be brought to the floor for a vote before they adjourn for this session. This is an issue that will define their leadership, this is not a side issue, this is the core issue that they need to be addressing.”
U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa: “I support traditional marriage. I voted for the Defense of Marriage Act, which was signed into law by President Clinton. It defines marriage as a union between one man and one woman and prevents states from being forced to honor the decisions of other state courts. I also voted twice in 2006, in the Judiciary Committee and on the Senate floor, for a joint resolution that would have amended the federal Constitution to define marriage as between one man and one woman. Now, to change what’s happened with the Iowa Supreme Court decision, the state legislature would have to take action.”
U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa: “This is an unconstitutional ruling and another example of activist judges molding the Constitution to achieve their personal political ends. Iowa law says that marriage is between one man and one woman. If judges believe the Iowa legislature should grant same sex marriage, they should resign from their positions and run for office, not legislate from the bench … Along with a constitutional amendment, the legislature must also enact marriage license residency requirements so that Iowa does not become the gay marriage Mecca due to the Supreme Court’s latest experiment in social engineering.”
“The gay marriage movement has once again used the power of the courts to push an untruth on unwilling Iowans,” said Brian S. Brown, the executive director of the National Organization for Marriage, a group formed in 2007 to preserve traditional marriage. “Same-sex unions are not marriages, and Iowans should not be forced by law to treat them as such.”
"Same-sex 'marriage' continues to be a movement driven by a liberal judicial elite determined to destroy not only the institution of marriage, but democracy as well. The casual dismissal of the facts of human biology and thousands of years of human history, simply to pander to a small band of social radicals, is bizarre and indefensible," said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council (FRC).
It is my hope that state lawmakers continue to focus on the state's economic and long-term woes, rather than to give in to political pressure. I trust Iowans to be fair-minded, as no marriages have been hurt by the courts decision, I would like to believe that legislators will stay focused on those things that are more likely to endanger families, lack of jobs, health care, and economic stability.
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