Gay marriage opponents rallied Tuesday
at Iowa's Statehouse as the 2010 legislative session opened Tuesday
and vowed to alter the political landscape in their favor.
The event was organized by the Iowa
Family Policy Center's (IFPC) political action committee, which used
the opportunity to formally endorse Republican gubernatorial
candidate Bob Vander Plaats, the Iowa Independent reported.
While all GOP gubernatorial primary
candidates oppose gay marriage, Vander Plaats has attacked the Iowa
Supreme Court's April 3 ruling that legalized gay marriage with the
most vigor, pledging to halt such weddings with an executive order
until the issue is decided by voters. Most analyst have said such a
move would not be legal.
The IFPC's
LUV (Let Us Vote) Iowa campaign focuses on pressuring state
lawmakers to begin the long process of putting a gay marriage ban in
the Iowa Constitution. Such a maneuver would trump the Iowa Supreme
Court's unanimous ruling and end gay marriage in the state. Social
conservative are angry that Democratic leaders have blocked passage
of such a measure, which needs the approval of the General Assembly
before heading to the ballot box, and have vowed to keep up the
pressure.
“Governor [Chet] Culver and the
Legislature will either listen to us now or listen to us in
November,” state Representative Kent Sorenson, a Republican from
Indianola, told the crowd estimated in the hundreds.
In accepting the group's endorsement,
Vander Plaats received a rousing round of applause. “The [Iowa]
Supreme Court does not get to amend the Constitution,” he said.