One Iowa has organized lots of events this week promoting marriage equality, and they’re getting noticed by some religious conservative activists. According to an e-mail One Iowa sent supporters yesterday, the Iowa Family Policy Center has alerted its supporters of attempts by homosexuals to “co-Opt Valentine’s Day”:
Groups supporting homosexuality are attempting to co-opt Valentine’s Day to promote their agenda. Homosexual activists brought “gay-wedding” cake to the Capitol yesterday, and were lobbying for a radical change to Iowa marriage law. They have asked their supporters to write letters to the editor this week calling for the redefinition of marriage. They are using Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, and text messaging to promote their agenda. Each of their efforts is designed to “change the hearts and minds of Iowa legislators.”
A lot of advocacy groups could learn from One Iowa’s organizing methods. The group says it had 80 supporters at the capitol on Tuesday, and I believe it. I saw several dozen people wearing One Iowa stickers while I was at the Iowa Environmental Council’s lobby day, which mostly ended before One Iowa’s big event of the day, the “Let Them Eat Cake” reception.
I don’t think the Iowa Family Policy Center needs to worry, though. Same-sex marriage advocates will never co-opt Valentine’s Day as successfully as florists and those who sell candy and greeting cards have already co-opted the feast day of Saint Valentine. In fact, Christians may themselves have co-opted the Roman festival of Lupercus, which took place on February 14 and 15.
5 Comments
A whopping 80 people!
My guess is they weren’t part of the Iowa mainstream but, rather, board members and executive directors from a handful of intertwined and like-minded leftist groups starting with One Iowa, of course, and including Iowa Safe Schools Task Force, Planned Parenthood, Interfaith Alliance, ACLU of Iowa, Iowa Pride Network, Iowa Civil Rights Commission, Iowa Department of Education, ISEA, Iowa Assoc. of School Boards and maybe an AEA or two.
Who knows, maybe Frank Cordaro even pulled off a State House two-fer this week!
There seems to be a revolving door amongst these groups allowing for a perpetual exchange of members, who don’t number as highly as they would like us to believe.
peggy Thu 12 Feb 1:20 PM
No Frank C. wasn't there for this one...
but we are working on him as far as LGBT issues go.
He’s getting there, what with the waaaaay OUT Mona Shaw as live-in community member of the CW these days.
Did you all see this priceless quote from coverage on the action against Rep. King?
I love Mona, I truly do…
eltondavis Thu 12 Feb 1:52 PM
How was Leavenworth?
peggy Sat 14 Feb 10:44 AM
Kind of sad to see who was there...
Lots of young kids off the streets looking at twenty plus years for stupid drug “conspiracies”. The local cops would bust them, and tell them they would not prosecute if they gave up their supplier. Then the cops would bust the kid dealing on the next block over, and so on. Then the local police would keep their word, and hand the case over to the feds for them to prosecute as a “drug conspiracy”. It didn’t matter if you were some strung out kid who got popped for dealing an “8 Ball”, or what, everybody got sentenced based on the total weight of drugs in the conspiracy. And if one person had a gun? Well, everybody shared the gun charge enhancement at sentencing. There were some S.C. decisions that reversed a bit of this, but the kids I met were simply resigned to being in for a long, long time.
And don’t even get me started on the latinos I met. The majority of them were down for a nickel stretch simply for “re-entry” without a visa. The worst case scenario that comes to mind was a dude who’s folks brought him to the states from Mexico when he was less that two years old. His parents never spoke Spanish in front of him, it was an english only household. And he got into a little trouble as a young man with some marijuana charges (state, not federal), and when the amnesty thing came through in the 90’s he kind of got jacked up because of a minor felony conviction. So they sent him back to Mexico. Where he has no living family that he is aware of, no friends, speaks not a friggin’ word of spanish, etc…
So this dude sneaks back in, assumes a new identity, and spends the next ten years building a life. He’s got a good job at an auto garage. He’s got a house. He’s got a wife and kids. And then one day, they pick him up for speeding, discover there is a discrepancy in his driver’s license, and hold him over for Immigration. He’s doing five years in the fed, after which he will be deported (again). At least this time, he started taking some Spanish lessons, he figures he’s got time to learn a little.
eltondavis Sat 14 Feb 11:39 AM
80 is a large number of people
to turn out for a lobby day at the capitol, especially since legislators aren’t likely to consider this issue until the 2010 session.
Peggy, the poll from last October showed that 28 percent of Iowans already support gay marriage and another 30 percent support civil unions.
To pass a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage (which will be on the ballot in 2011 at the earliest), conservatives would need to get 60 percent of Iowans to vote for it.
I think by that time the majority of Iowans will accept gay marriage, but if not a majority, easily more than 40 percent will vote “no” on an amendment.
desmoinesdem Thu 12 Feb 1:57 PM