"Let Us Vote" rallies for a vote to reverse marriage equality in Iowa

01/12/10 Iowa Politics.com:

"Let Us Vote" (LUV) began its "Two Days For Marriage" campaign at the state capitol in Iowa as Governor Chet Culver prepared to give his State of the State Address. LUV organizers seek to lobby the state legislature to approve a "marriage protection amendment" that would give voters opportunity to overturn Varnum v. Brien, 763 N.W.2d 862 (Iowa 2009). In Varnum, the state Supreme Court ruled that the statutory ban on same-sex marriage violated the state constution's guarantee of equal protection to Iowan same-sex couples. (A similar campaign has been launched in New Hampshire to repeal that state's marriage equality law.)

LUV's undertaking occurs, of course, as Perry plaintiffs challenge the constitutionality of allowing voters decide who has the right to marry. This video clip affords some insight on the tactics LUV appears willing to indulge. (Here is another report.) The organization is "closely associated with the Iowa Family Policy Center."

Anticipating opposition to Varnum, One Iowa has been hosting public forums as part of its mission to protect marriage equality. It recently formed a Red Blue Purple coalition, and has just started airing a 60-second ad, "This Place."

State Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal told the Iowa Independent that he will block a vote on a planned "marriage protection" amendment. This prospect, and Iowa One's activities, have elicited indignation by the president of the Iowa Family Policy Center, Chuck Hurley. Speaking of Gronstal and One Iowa, he said that "[t]o deny us the right to vote is un-American, it’s anti-democratic and it’s strange that they would submit to a dictator, even if that dictator is temporarily on their side of action."

01/12/10 Sioux City Journal:

Several hundred people joined the outdoor rally organized by LUV – Let Us Vote -- to call for a constitutional amendment to overturn the April 2009 decision by the Iowa Supreme Court striking down Iowa’s ban on same-sex marriage.

Same-sex marriage supporters also turned out in force Tuesday and promised to deliver 18,000 petition postcards to legislators asking them to reject a constitutional amendment to deny protections to gay and lesbian families, said One Iowa Executive Director Carolyn Jenison.