Iowa marriage opponents push for vote
Fox News reports opponents of Iowa’s gay-marriage law are promising to push hard during the 2010 legislative session for a vote on a constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex unions.
Bryan English of Iowa Family Policy Council ACTION says pro-marriage supporters plan to be at the state Capitol on Jan. 12 when Gov. Chet Culver delivers his Condition of the State address.
He said the occasion will mark the first time that all three branches of state government are together since a unanimous Supreme Court ruled April 3 that a state law defining marriage as between one man and one woman was unconstitutional, clearing the way for same-sex marriage in Iowa.
RI lawmakers undecided on gay-rights bill
The Boston Globe reports Rhode Island lawmakers have not decided whether they will try to overturn the governor’s veto of legislation that would allow same-sex couples to plan the funerals of their late partners.
House Majority Leader Gordon Fox, a Democrat, said on Dec. 23 that he personally supports the bill. He said he still needs to meet with Senate leaders before deciding whether to override a veto from Republican Gov. Don Carcieri when lawmakers return Jan. 5.
Members of Queer Action Rhode Island gave the lawmakers petitions, signed by 425 people, in support of the legislation.
Gay-marriage foes buy bus ads
Advocate.com reports a group opposed to Washington, D.C.’s marriage-equality law has purchased ads on the city’s Metrobus system that demand, “Let the People Vote on Marriage.”
The ads are sponsored by Stand for Marriage DC, a group closely affiliated with the National Organization for Marriage. The D.C. council and the district’s election board have denied repeated attempts by SFMDC to put marriage up to a popular vote.
The gay group Full Equality Now DC has opposed the ad campaign. Another group, led by the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance’s president Mitch Woods, has come out in favor of SFMDC’s freedom of speech.
— Larry Nichols