American Gothic 2009

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Iowa Legalizes Gay Marriage. Where Does Conservative Outrage Go?
April 03, 2009 05:41 PM ET * Dan Gilgoff * Permanent Link * Print
By Dan Gilgoff, God & Country

Legalizing gay marriage in a culturally conservative heartland state, as the Iowa Supreme Court did today, would ordinarily provoke an immediate backlash, launching a movement to amend the state constitution to override the court's decision. It might even renew the national effort to amend the U.S. Constitution to ban gay marriage. But in the case of today's Iowa decision, no constitutions will be amended anytime soon.

That's because the earliest a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage could appear on the Iowa ballot is 2011. The state legislature must pass an amendment in two conservative sessions for it to land on the ballot. And with the Democrats who control both houses of the Iowa Legislature applauding today's ruling, even that timetable would seem overly expeditious.

With Democrats also in firm control of Congress, the Bush-era campaign religious conservatives waged to amend the U.S. Constitution has little chance of being revived. (Not to mention that the Republican Party has little stomach for beating the drum on social issues these days.).

There's been some talk of the conservative outrage being funneled into Iowa's first-in-the-nation GOP caucus in 2012, but it's hard to see how religious conservatives could expand their role in that contest beyond what it already is. After all, Mike Huckabee won there the last time around.

I'm fascinated to watch this story play out because it doesn't seem like there's anywhere for religious conservatives to go with their outrage. Is there a productive outlet for the anger that I'm overlooking?
 
Neocons planning to act violently should know that President Obama will strengthen federal hate crimes legislation, expand hate crimes protection by passing the Matthew Shepard Act, and reinvigorate enforcement at the Department of Justice's Criminal Section.
 
Hopefully the fundamentalist outrage goes straight into a third party, and fiscal conservative/social liberals can take control of the GOP. Then we can have two secular, viable parties.
 
Epicurus said:
Hopefully the fundamentalist outrage goes straight into a third party, and fiscal conservative/social liberals can take control of the GOP. Then we can have two secular, viable parties.
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I think there's a possibility that a new party could force the Republican party into being a regional southern party. I think the Independence party of America is a good candidate - Bloomberg is a bit of a leftist, but he's friendly with the fiscal conservative/social liberal factions, and if he joins the party could provide massive financing for it. A lot of moderate Democrats would join as well.

Pure speculation, though. I just know that the Republican party can't survive nationally while dominated by the religious right.
 
Watermarx said:
I think there's a possibility that a new party could force the Republican party into being a regional southern party. I think the Independence party of America is a good candidate - Bloomberg is a bit of a leftist, but he's friendly with the fiscal conservative/social liberal factions, and if he joins the party could provide massive financing for it. A lot of moderate Democrats would join as well.

Pure speculation, though. I just know that the Republican party can't survive nationally while dominated by the religious right.
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theres no way that a party with bloomberg would survive or thrive and win elections because of his anti-gun stance.
 
"While we have come a long way since the Stonewall riots in 1969, we still have a lot of work to do. Too often, the issue of LGBT rights is exploited by those seeking to divide us. But at its core, this issue is about who we are as Americans. It's about whether this nation is going to live up to its founding promise of equality by treating all its citizens with dignity and respect."
Barack Obama, June 1, 2007

President Obama would veto the Bush federal Marriage Amendment of 2006 which would have defined marriage as between a man and a woman and prevented judicial extension of marriage-like rights to same-sex couples.

President Obama agrees with former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff John Shalikashvili and other military experts that we need to repeal the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. The key test for military service should be patriotism, a sense of duty, and a willingness to serve. Discrimination should be prohibited. Bush wasted millions of dollars replacing troops kicked out of the military because of their sexual orientation. Additionally, more than 300 language experts were fired under this policy, including more than 50 who were fluent in Arabic. The new, legitimately-elected President will repeal the current policy.

President Obama will ensure adoption rights for gay parents.

President Obama believes we need to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and enact legislation that would ensure that the 1,100+ federal legal rights and benefits currently provided on the basis of marital status are extended to same-sex couples. These rights and benefits include the right to assist a loved one in times of emergency, the right to equal health insurance and other employment benefits, and property rights.

In 2004, crimes against LGBT Americans constituted the third-highest category of hate crime reported and made up more than 15 percent of such crimes. President Obama cosponsored legislation that would expand federal jurisdiction to include violent hate crimes perpetrated because of race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, or physical disability. As a state senator, President Obama passed tough legislation that made hate crimes and conspiracy to commit them against the law.

President Obama supports the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, and believes that our anti-discrimination employment laws should be expanded to include sexual orientation and gender identity. While an increasing number of employers have extended benefits to their employees' domestic partners, discrimination based on sexual orientation in the workplace occurs with no federal legal remedy. The President also sponsored legislation in the Illinois State Senate that would ban employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
 
Being opposed to illegal guns makes Mayor Bloomberg one the few sane Repugs. Even Bush resigned his NRA membership.
 
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