Iowa state representative Bruce Hunter (D-Des Moines) said it best: “Here’s the funny thing about rights – they’re not supposed to be voted on.”
Except that’s exactly what happened today. And if Iowa Republicans (and some Democrats) have their way, the ballot is how all the same-sex couples in Iowa are going to be stripped of their right to marry. As boji diaried earlier, the Iowa House voted 62-37 to pass a constitutional amendment banning not just marriage equality, but even domestic partnerships and civil unions. Now, literally one man – Democratic Majority Leader Mike Gronstal – is standing in the way of putting up gay and lesbian Iowans’ civil rights for a popular vote, as he has vowed to prevent the measure from coming up for a vote in the Senate. If a vote is somehow forced, nobody knows how it will turn out, since Democrats only hold a two-vote majority in the Senate.