Social conservatives in Iowa are
threatening to work against the campaign of any elected official who
does not support repeal of gay marriage in the state.
The Iowa Family Policy Center, the
state's most vocal supporter of putting a 2009 state Supreme Court
ruling legalizing gay marriage up for a popular vote, and a group
called Purpose Ministries have collected signatures from over 800
Iowa clergy, putting candidates for elected office on notice: support
banning gay marriage or forgo their support.
At a press conference Wednesday in Des
Moines, Iowa Family Policy Center president Chuck Hurley said all
statewide candidates to elected office in Iowa will be presented with
the petitions.
“Whether they see the light, we
believe and we hope that they will feel the heat,” Hurley told
Radio Iowa.
“These petitions, signed by hundreds
of church leaders from all over Iowa, send a loud clear message to
any candidate running for office in Iowa: Don't deny the people their
right to vote on this issue or you will lose our votes,” Rev. Brad
Sherman, pastor of Solid Rock Christian Center in Coralville and
founder of Purpose
Ministries, said.
“To the court: Thank you for your
opinion, but no thanks,” Sherman said. “And to the Legislature:
Stop representing the homosexual lobby that's based primarily and
funded primarily outside of Iowa and begin to represent the people of
Iowa that elected you. Otherwise, we believe a pink slip is coming
your way.”
Social conservatives are fuming that
Democrats in the Legislature have blocked passage of
Republican-sponsored resolutions that would begin the process of
amending the Iowa Constitution to define marriage as a heterosexual
union.
While all Republican Iowa gubernatorial
candidates support repeal of gay marriage, Bob Vander Plaats, who
often speaks about the issue at anti-gay marriage rallies, has a
padlock on the issue. He's pledged, if elected, to halt such
weddings in the state with an executive order until the issue is
decided by voters. His vocal opposition to marriage equality has
earned him the endorsement of the Iowa Family Policy Center.
A recent poll, however, shows former
Governor Terry Branstad with a 15-point lead over Vander Plaats, his
closest rival, for the Republican nomination. Branstad is the only
GOP gubernatorial nominee that supports limited gay rights, saying
last February, “Well, I don't think people should be discriminated
against.”
Earlier this year, 167 Iowa clergy
signed onto a petition urging legislators to stand firm against
attempts to roll back marriage equality in the state. Hurley called
those signers “pseudo” pastors, referring to the 834 clergy who
signed his group's petition as “real” pastors.