Social conservatives are targeting Iowa
State Senate President Jack Kibbie for not backing a constitutional
amendment that would define marriage as a heterosexual union, Radio
Iowa reported.
The Iowa Family Policy Center, the
state's most vociferous opponent of gay marriage, is criticizing
Kibbie for not pressing harder for the amendment, which, if approved
by voters, would trump the Iowa Supreme Court's 2009 unanimous ruling
legalizing gay marriage.
The group's “Let
Us Vote” (LUV) campaign focuses on pressuring state lawmakers
to send the amendment to the ballot box. The group is angry that
Democratic leaders have blocked passage of the measure, which needs
the approval of the General Assembly before heading to voters.
On the Internet – www.jackkibbie.com
– and on billboards and fliers, the group is accusing the president
of back-peddling on the issue.
“There is one senator in north
central Iowa who is getting sick and tired of LUV Iowa, I want to
tell you that right now,” Tom Nichols, a LUV Iowa member, told a
crowd last week in Des Moines. “For those of you who want to write
it down – www.jackkibbie.com.
He's got a little video up about him. He's going to have some more
in a couple of days. We're going to keep reminding him that he said
he was in support of marriage and family and he ain't doing nothing
about it.”
LUV Iowa wants Kibbie, a Democrat who
has publicly stated his opposition to gay marriage, to join a group
of mostly Republicans in wrenching the amendment resolution out of
committee and bring it to the Senate floor for a vote. A procedural
maneuver that has already failed in both chambers.
Kibbie, however, says such a motion
would only place the issue on the Senate's debate calendar and Senate
Democratic Leader Mike Gronstal, who controls the agenda, has
repeatedly said he will not allow a vote on the issue this year.
“I understand where they're coming
from,” Kibbie said. “As president of the Senate they think I
have the authority and the power to control that agenda, which I
don't have.”
Opponents of gay marriage have vowed to
make repeal an issue during the 2010 mid-term elections.