Governor Chet Culver (D) has been opposed to same-sex marriage and has previously said that he will work with the legislature to amend the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage in the event the Supreme Court rules in favor of gay marriage.
He has now released the following statement via his website.
"The decision released by the Supreme Court addresses a complicated and emotional issue, one on which Iowans have strong views and opinions on both sides. The next responsible step is to thoroughly review this decision, which I am doing with my legal counsel and the Attorney General, before reacting to what it means for Iowa."
We need all Iowans who support equality to e-mail Governor Culver today and let him know that Iowans support the court’s decision to grant the freedom to marry for same-sex couples and oppose amending the Iowa Constitution.
Please take action by contacting Governor Culver through One Iowa's E-Action Form and pass this on to friends and family.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Governor Culver: Don't Amend the Iowa Constitution!
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3 comments:
I'm amazed at the...vagueness...of his official statement. Even for a politician. He's not even taking a stance on the matter, though he obviously wouldn't issue such a statement if his opinion were simply to let the court's decision stand as is. Maybe he still needs time to calculate the risks and options available or whether opposing it even seems (from his perspective) worthwhile? The statement strikes me as very odd.
It strikes me as odd as well, but I am a little more hopeful than you. My guess is he said he was against gay marriage (he was running for the position) and he prob supports it, or is pressured by dems within the party and so he is calculating how to respond in a way that makes it seem he is against it without directly being involved in the effort to repeal it.
Fortunately, Iowa's laws on amending its constitution are quite strict -- it takes two passes through the legislature in different years, and then a vote in a general election. This means they can't put an amendment on the ballot before 2012. By which time, I would hope, the utter normalcy of three years of gay marriage will have set in, and no one will be very worried about it.
That's more or less what happened here in Mass -- after a couple of years trying to pass an amendment through the legislature, the general feeling was, Why are we still talking about this? It's become very much a non-issue here. Hopefully the same will happen in Iowa over the next three years.
The economics of Iowa being one of the few states to which people can travel to get hitched might act in its favor, as well.
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