Presidential hopefuls Donald Trump, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Tim Pawlenty are reminding Iowans that they oppose gay rights.

In various venues, potential 2012 GOP candidates aimed their pitches directly at social conservatives in Iowa.

Five of the potential candidates attended a Monday forum hosted by The Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition, a group that opposes gay rights, in the Des Moines suburb of Waukee.

Former Minnesota Governor Pawlenty told the crowd that “We need to be a nation that turns toward God.” In a Fox News interview broadcast on Monday, Pawlenty told Greta Van Susteren that he'll always oppose gay marriage.

Also attending the forum were former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Godfather's Pizza CEO Herman Cain and former Louisiana Governor Buddy Roemer.

Gingrich also told Susteren that he objects to gay marriage.

“Well, I'm very strongly in support of marriage being between a man and a woman, which is what it has historically always been,” the Republican said. “And I – but beyond that, I'm very strongly opposed to courts on many topics … we've been in a cycle where judges decide they will rewrite the constitution based on their whim. I think that's wrong. I think it's constitutionally wrong.”

“And I think that it represents an abuse of power by judges. And Iowa was an opportunity to start sending a signal that we need a national debate,” he added, referring to voters' recent decision to remove three Iowa justices from the Supreme Court over its 2009 decision that brought gay marriage to the Midwest.

Billionaire celebrity and real estate mogul Trump stirred controversy when he told the Des Moines Register that he is opposed to all forms of legal recognition for gay and lesbian couples. Trump recently said he'll soon stump in Iowa.

In an op-ed published Monday in the Des Moines Register, Santorum blasted President Barack Obama for his decision to no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which bans federal agencies from recognizing the legal marriages of gay and lesbian couples.

“Intellectually, morally and constitutionally President Obama's claim is absurd. And it is a dagger aimed at the heart of a core constitutional value: the free exercise of religion.”