While hundreds of Christians gather at the Iowa Capitol to call on legislators to put same-sex 'marriage' to a vote by the people, presidential candidate Newt Gingrich is funding Iowa pro-marriage advocacy organizations to improve his low standing among Christians.
For background, read Iowans Want Supreme Court Justices Impeached (for forcing "gay marriage" on voters)
-- From "Gay Marriage Debate at the Iowa Capitol" by The Associated Press 3/15/11
About 500 opponents of same-sex marriage are rallying at the Iowa Capitol, urging lawmakers to approve a statewide vote on amending the constitution to bay gay marriage.
Tuesday's event was organized by conservative group The Family Leader and featured former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore. He refused to remove a monument of the Ten Commandments in the state judicial building. He was removed from office in 2003, when he refused to abide by a federal court order to remove the monument.
Moore called on Iowa residents to stand up for truth and virtue, saying "what happens in Iowa, the rest of the nation watches."
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From "Hundreds at statehouse rally yell: 'Let us vote!'" by O. Kay Henderson, Radio Iowa 3/15/11
Hundreds of people chanting “Let us vote!” gathered on the steps of the statehouse today, denouncing the Democratic leader of the state senate who is blocking a resolution that would set up a statewide vote on gay marriage.
Cary Gordon, pastor of Cornerstone World Outreach in Sioux City, gave the invocation and then delivered a 15 minute speech, criticizing the “insufferable political enemies” of traditional marriage like Senate Democratic Leader Mike Gronstal.
According to [Justice Roy] Moore, the rest of the country looks to Iowa because of the state’s first-in-the-nation Caucuses, and this issue will be part of the conversation in the presidential campaign. ”Because what happens in Iowa affects the rest of the nation. It’s not like Vegas,” Moore said. “You’ve heard about Vegas? What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. That’s not Iowa. What happens in Iowa the rest of the nation watches.”
Reverend Keith Ratliff, pastor of the Maple Street Missionary Baptist Church in Des Moines, urged the crowd to lobby state senators after the rally. ”For this is not a playground, my brothers and my sisters, this is a battleground,” Ratliff said. “To our legislators: let us vote.”
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From "Marriage supporters collide at Capitol Tuesday" by Lynda Waddington, The Iowa Independent 3/15/11
Although conservative interests in the state have found support with Republicans, who have used their majority to pass legislation that would limit or eliminate same-sex marriage rights in Iowa, Democrats who hold a majority in the Iowa Senate have thus far thwarted all efforts. Frustrations for social conservatives have bubbled over in the past week, with key leaders of the movement calling for their supporters to work non-stop to defeat Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal (D-Council Bluffs) and other members of Democratic leadership who have stalled their attempts to roll back a 2009 Iowa Supreme Court decision.
Inclusion of Moore in the Iowa event has prompted national attention. Josh Dorner, writing for the Think Progress Wonk Room, notes that Moore, while serving as a circuit court judge, opened his court proceedings with prayers. As Moore’s celebrity status rose in conservative Christian circles, an influential and anti-gay Florida-based religious group, Coral Ridge Ministries, filmed the installation of Moore’s self-funded monument in Alabama and pledged to sell the video and other Moore-related tokens to financially support any future legal defense.
. . . He wrote a notorious concurring opinion for the Alabama Supreme Court that derided homosexuality “to be detestable and an abominable sin.”
“Homosexual conduct by its very nature is immoral, and its consequences are inherently destructive to the natural order of society. Any person who engages in such conduct is presumptively unfit to have custody of minor children under the established laws of this State.”
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From "Newt Gingrich sent $150K to help oust Iowa justices" by The Associated Press 3/15/11
Potential presidential candidate Newt Gingrich quietly lined up $150,000 to help defeat Iowa justices who threw out a ban on same-sex marriage, routing the money to conservative groups through an aide's political committee.
Gingrich, the former U.S. House speaker who has aggressively courted the conservatives who dominate Iowa's lead-off presidential caucuses, raised the money for the political arm of Restoring American Leadership, also known as ReAL.
That group then passed $125,000 to American Family Association Action and an additional $25,000 to the Iowa Christian Alliance — two of the groups that spent millions before last November's elections that removed three of the state's seven state Supreme Court justices. The court had unanimously decided a state law restricting marriage to a man and a woman violated Iowa's constitution.
The financial transfers, which appear to comply with campaign finance laws, were part of a steady flow of cash into Iowa from conservative groups such as the National Organization for Marriage and the Family Research Council.
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Also read, Presidential Candidates in Iowa: Abortion & Marriage Top Issues
