A committee of the Iowa House on Monday
approved a bill that seeks to repeal gay marriage in the state, the
AP reported.
The Iowa Marriage Amendment (IMA) seeks
to put a question on the 2013 ballot that would define marriage in
the Iowa Constitution as a heterosexual union – and thereby reverse
the 2009 Iowa Supreme Court ruling that brought gay marriage to the
Midwest.
After a subcommittee of the House
Judiciary Committee voted 2-1 in favor of the resolution, the full
committee followed suit with a 13-8 vote. The measure now moves to
the full House for debate, where 56 Republicans have pledged their
support. Only 51 votes are needed in the 100 member chamber to
approve the measure.
More than 200 people pleaded their case
to lawmakers.
Danny Carroll, of the socially
conservative group The Family Leader, urged lawmakers to “give the
people the right to vote.”
Opponents argued that such basic rights
should never be put up for a vote.
A similar version of the resolution
faces a much steeper incline in the Democrat-controlled Senate, where
Majority Leader Michael Gronstal has vowed to block the measure from
reaching the floor.
Republicans increased their numbers in
the Legislature and took over the Governor's Mansion on November 2.
Voters
also ousted three out of the seven Iowa Supreme Court justices who
unanimously legalized gay marriage.