News

from The Des Moines Register

Iowans who opposed last year's state Supreme Court decision to allow gay marriage have launched a campaign to vote three justices out of office.

Common Sense PAC is the first formal attempt to unseat the three justices who face a retention vote on Nov. 2: David Baker, Michael Streit and Chief Justice Marsha Ternus.

from The Iowa Independent

Bob Vander Plaats, who finished second in the GOP gubernatorial primary in June, will hold a press conference at the state Capitol Friday morning at 10:30, presumably to discuss his plans for the fall campaign.

from KWQC-Davenport

Supporters of California's gay marriage ban have filed an appeal of a federal judge's ruling striking down the voter-approved law.

The appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday was expected, as lawyers on both sides of the legal battle repeatedly vowed to carry the fight to a higher court if they lost.

On Wednesday, a federal judge in San Francisco overturned California's Proposition 8, which restricts a marriage to one man and one woman.

from The Iowa Independent

U.S. District Chief Judge Vaughn Walker’s ruling Wednesday that California’s voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional has been greeted with both joy and outrage in the Hawkeye State, with at least one legal scholar saying it could hurt efforts to pass a similar ban in Iowa.

Carolyn Jenison, executive director of LBGT-rights group One Iowa, called the ruling, “a victory for all Americans who believe in fundamental fairness,” but warned that the work for marriage equality is far from over.

from the Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier

...Groups like the Iowa Family Policy Center and the New Jersey-based National Organization for Marriage are urging their supporters to vote for candidates that define marriage as a union between one man and one woman.

Cedar Valley gay rights advocates are countering those efforts by phoning potential voters and knocking on doors to share their views.

from KCRG-Cedar Rapids

On the heels of a federal judge ruling that California’s voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, One Iowa will hold a rally in Iowa City as part of its week-long launch for its voter education project “Stand Proud, Vote Proud.”

Spokesperson for One Iowa Justin Uebelhor said the goal of Thursday’s rally will be to educate voters about the importance of electing legislators that are in favor of same-sex marriage.