One Iowa to rally next month in support of same-sex marriage
from The Iowa Independent
One Iowa, the state’s largest LGBT-rights organization, has announced a series of rallies around the state designed to counter the gatherings planned by anti-gay group National Organization for Marriage (NOM).
NOM announced in June that it would hold rallies in 22 states around the country to build public opposition to same-sex marriage. The group will be in Des Moines Aug. 1 and Sioux City Aug. 3. One Iowa plans to hold counter rallies in both cities, and additionally will organize events in Davenport, Waterloo and Iowa City.
“Marriage is the ultimate expression of a couple’s love, commitment, and responsibility for one another,” said One Iowa Executive Director Carolyn Jenison. “The freedom to marry in Iowa allows all committed couples to celebrate the promise they make to each other – together with family, friends, neighbors, and their community. We’re not about to let an out-of-touch, out-of-state extremist group change that. We’re confident Iowans will reject NOM’s divisive message at the polls this November and will embrace a forward-thinking agenda that includes all families.”
NOM spent nearly $100,000 into an Iowa House special election in September and announced last year that it would launch a new initiative called The Reclaim Iowa Project. The group aims to force Iowans to pass a state constitutional amendment reversing the unanimous ruling of the Iowa Supreme Court that the state’s Defense of Marriage Act was unconstitutional. U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, has pledged his support for the initiative and lent his voice to a robocall for the organization.
