News & Events

We need you to take action!

35 House Republicans have introduced a marriage ban. House Joint Resolution 11 (HJR11) would exclude loving and committed gay and lesbian couples from the freedom to marry in Iowa.

We need you to call your Representatives TODAY and urge them to oppose this shameful and harmful marriage ban. We MUST defeat this bill in the House, but we cannot do it unless our Representatives hear from you!

The House switchboard phone number is 515-281-3221. Click here to find your Representative. Or, if you prefer to email your legislator, click here.

• The introduction of House Joint Resolution 11 is a shameful attempt to politicize Iowa families.We deserve leaders who stand for true family values.
• We don't support the passage of any marriage ban. Our legislators should be focusing on creating jobs, strengthening our economy, and making our schools better, not spending time passing legislation that hurts Iowa families.
• If your Representative didn't support HR11: Thank you for representing ALL Iowa families. {SHARE YOUR STORY}
• If your Representative DID support HR 11: Ask them to remember that a majority of Iowans don't support a marriage ban passing through the Legislature.
• Remind them that LGBT people are their constituents, and are our coworkers, our friends, our family members, our spouses. Share your story and ask them to focus on the issues that matter to Iowans: jobs, the economy, and education.

Please DONATE to support One Iowa's work to fight back against legislative attacks like HJR11!

The bill will be heard first in the House Judiciary Committee. After you contact your Representatives, please contact the Representatives on the House Judiciary Committee and urge them to oppose HJR11:

• Chip Baltimore (R, District 47), Chair
• Megan Hess (R, District 2), Vice Chair
• Mary Wolfe (D, District 98), Ranking Member
• Dwayne Alons (R, District 4)
• Marti Anderson (D, District 36)
• Mark Brandenburg (R, District 15)
• Dave Dawson (D, District 14)
• Julian Garrett (R, District 25)
• Tedd Gassman (R, District 7)
• Chris Hagenow (R, District 43)
• Greg Heartsill (R, District 28)
• David E. Heaton (R, District 84)
• Bobby Kaufmann (R, District 73)
• Vicki S. Lensing (D, District 85)
• Jo Oldson (D, District 41)
• Rick Olson (D, District 31)
• Tyler Olson (D, District 65)
• Mark D. Smith (D, District 71)
• Beth Wessel-Kroeschell (D, District 45)
• Matt W. Windschitl (R, District 17)
• Gary Worthan (R, District 11)

One Iowa strongly condemns the passage of any marriage ban including HJR11. Will you stand with us for justice TODAY? This bill must be defeated.

A marriage resolution sends a hurtful message to some families that they are not valued by their so-called "representatives," and we urge our legislators to remember that LGBT people are their constituents, friends, neighbors, coworkers and fellow Iowans. Iowa is a better place when all families are recognized, supported, and valued by their state.  

I hope you'll take the time and make the call. We must defeat this bill.

Thank you,
Donna Red Wing
One Iowa Executive Director 

P.S. This work takes time and resources, will you donate $75 today to support our crucial legislative work?

from The Huffington Post.
by One Iowa Executive Director Donna Red Wing.

There has been a lot of movement on marriage equality recently, from responses to the upcoming United States Supreme Court rulings on DOMA and Proposition 8 to shameful tactics in the Iowa State Senate. What happens in the Iowa State Legislature does have an national impact. Let's look at LGBT equality as an example.

On April 3, 2009, Iowa became the third state to rule in favor of marriage for gay and lesbian couples. Though we are now joined by eight other states and the District of Columbia, we are still the only non-coastal state that has marriage equality. We are a national leader in the movement toward equality. What happens in Iowa has a ripple effect outward, across the plains, into the Rockies, south toward the Gulf, north into the cold waters of the Great Lakes, and eastward into the bustling cities and industrial communities. What we do here makes a difference in Pittsburgh and Detroit, in Anchorage and Honolulu. What we accomplish here sends a message to our neighbors in Omaha and Minneapolis. On the flip side, whenever we fail to advance equality and justice, we cede precious ground to our opponents across the country, sending a message that in Middle America, in the heartland, equality is delayed or denied.

As a leader in the LGBT movement for nearly three decades, I understand that progress is not a "straight" line from one point to the other. Instead, it is a kind of dance; it moves, takes two steps forward and one step backward, and in some places does a little "do-si-do." Progress loops back on itself, pirouettes and strikes in unexpected and interesting ways. This is how our movement communicates and operates.

That's why I think it's important that I connect what is going on in Iowa with what is trending across the country.

This past week, along with the rest of the nation, we celebrated the hundreds of amicus briefs that were submitted to the United States Supreme Court, all opposing the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and/or urging the Supreme Court to rule that Proposition 8, the harmful California ballot initiative that blocked same-sex couples from marriage, is unconstitutional. We saw businesses and nonprofits, legal communities and medical communities, teachers and nurses, labor groups and environmental groups, Democrats and Republicans all find common ground and stand up for justice. We again saw our president stand on the side of American families -- our families -- and we saw conservatives advocate for true family values. The sheer volume of support for marriage equality has been overwhelming and will undoubtedly be viewed as one of those "two steps forward" in our movement's history.

I want to focus on Republican support for overturning DOMA, because it speaks volumes about the conversations we are all having on the issue of marriage. Some were absolutely shocked that over 75 prominent Republicans signed an amicus brief against DOMA, while others like One Iowa were proud to have our friends stand with us on the right side of history.

Ken Mehlman was one of those Republicans who signed the brief. Earlier this month Mr. Mehlman came to Iowa to make the conservative case for marriage equality. He was joined by Mitt Romney's Iowa strategist David Kochel and members ofIowa Republicans for Freedom, a group of conservatives and Republicans who all support the freedom of same-sex couples to marry in Iowa. To hear members of the GOP talk about their support for marriage equality because of their conservative values, not in spite of them, was truly inspiring. The Republican Party was founded on principles of individual liberty and limited government, and what could be more antithetical to those principles than telling someone that they can't marry the person they love? We are having that conversation here in Iowa, and we know that these conversations are happening around the country.

This event and the outpouring of support we saw afterwards is why we aren't surprised that prominent Republicans have endorsed DOMA's full repeal on a national level. Nevertheless, we know that we have a lot of work to do to truly have bipartisan (and ultimately nonpartisan) support for marriage equality.

Let's take a step backwards now. Earlier last week, 18 Iowa State Senate Republicans introduced a ban on marriage for lesbian and gay couples. Senate Joint Resolution 5, or S.J.R. 5, would put this issue on the ballot for a vote that would eliminate a freedom that we have enjoyed in the state for nearly four years. The introduction of this resolution was nothing more than political grandstanding by a few senators who ran on anti-marriage-equality platforms. Though it was a petty act with no chance of movement, it sent a painful reminder to hundreds of Iowan families that some politicians do not value them.

As the Iowa GOP grapples with this issue, so too are Republicans on the national stage. And it isn't always pretty or well-messaged. Often it's fraught with controversy, hyperbole and harmful rhetoric. A few weeks ago A.J. Spiker, the chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa, commented on Iowa Press that "there is a gay marriage party in the state of Iowa and that's the Iowa Democratic Party. The Republican Party embraces one-man, one-woman marriage and embraces the right of the people to vote on the definition of marriage." His statements fail to reflect the spectrum of conservative values in his own party and further entrenches this issue in two-party politics. That isn't what this is about.

Though we have seen forward momentum over the past few months, we are also still battling a mentality that marriage and equality are political issues, and that if a conservative supports marriage equality, fellow conservatives can and should use that against him or her in primaries. We must get beyond this discourse and remember that this isn't about politics but about people.

Here in Iowa we are having these conversations. They are sometimes painful, sometimes public and sometimes very quiet. Most of the time we are talking with our friends and neighbors, within our congregations and political parties, at our workplaces and in our homes. We are having the conversations that are shaping the national movement. What we have achieved here in Iowa has had an extraordinary impact on the rest of the nation, and we are continuing to advance equality, even as we celebrate four years of marriage equality in our state.

And so the dance continues. We know that our struggle for equality is on the right side of justice. We know that we will continue to reach out to conservatives and Republicans and invite pro-equality leaders on both sides of the aisle to join us. And we know that as Iowa goes, so goes the nation. Two steps forward... "do-si-do."

Read the article from The Huffington Post.
Read more from Donna's Blog.
Read more One Iowa in the News.
Read more In the News.

from Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier.

A roundup of legislative and Capitol news items of interest for Wednesday, March 6, 2013:

Same-sex marriage: Ten Iowa House Republicans are making an attempt to restrict county registrars from issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples until a constitutional amendment banning marriage for gay and lesbian couples is placed on the ballot.

Passage is unlikely because for a variety of reasons including Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs, refusal to bring up bills that would impinge on the 2009 Iowa Supreme Court decision striking down Iowa’s ban on same-sex marriage.

One Iowa, which lobbies on behalf of the LGBT community, called the bill “yet another misguided attempt by a few radical Iowa House Representatives to undermine the freedom to marry for loving and committed couples.”

Based on figures from the Iowa Department of Public Health, One Iowa estimates 6,000 gay and lesbian couples have married in Iowa.

Read the full article from the Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier.
Read more One Iowa in the News.
Read more In the News.

from Patch.
by One Iowa Executive Director Donna Red Wing.

HJR-11
A Joint Resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the State of Iowa specifying marriage between one man and one woman as the only legal union that is valid or recognized in the state.

We’d like to think that Iowa legislators are in step with their constituents – the people they represent and the voters who put them in office. Today, though, I have to wonder. Because today, a group of 35 Iowa Republican House members filed a bill that would exclude gay and lesbian couples from civil marriage.

I have to ask this group of 35 if they are thinking about the approximately 6,000 couples who married after the Varnum ruling? Are they thinking about those loving and committed couples and their families' future in Iowa? I have to ask, do you not represent every Iowan in your district?

What message is sent when an elected official publicly declares in his or her sponsorship of a shameful and harmful bill that some people are more equal than others in Iowa simply because of who they are and the person they love?

I’d like to ask this elected official what his or her goal is? Do they understand how out of step they are? Do they understand that we are talking about people, not politics?

This bill should not pass the House and will certainly not pass the Iowa Senate. So, why are these 35 members so invested in excluding some Iowans from marriage?

It’s important to take a moment to applaud the 18 House Republicans and the 47 House Democrats who declined to sign onto this harmful resolution. Their leadership is exemplary.

As I write this, the only lobbyist working in support of the joint resolution is Greg Baker of The Family Leader. And as we know, The Family Leader is very clear about where it stands on marriage. In a recent editorial, President & CEO of The Family Leader Bob Vander Plaats griped about "Republican elites" pushing for acceptance of LGBT civil marriage rights.

He ended with a clarion call to action: “The Family Leader rejects the spoken message and the chosen silence which undermines the institution of marriage. I hope you will choose to stand with us as we stand for life, for marriage, for family...for Truth!”

On Monday of this week, a Family Leader email groused about how hard it was to get even 35 members of the Iowa House to co-sponsor the so-called Iowa Marriage Amendment. That missive ended with an encouragement for its membership to petition their representatives.

Are these 35 members dancing to Bob Vander Plaats’ tune? Knowing that marriage is secure, are they simply making good on their promise to him and his organization? Is this one in a string of Family Leader issues that they are lock-step behind? Do these members truly represent their constituencies? Are they meeting with families in their districts and having real conversations about issues of importance, or are they simply doing what they are told?

Over the past few months, we have witnessed extraordinary conversations about marriage. We have seen GOP leadership sign on to an amicus brief urging full marriage equality for gay and lesbian couples and the overturn of Proposition 8. We have heard from Iowa Republicans and conservatives, including Jeff Angelo and David Kochel, about why supporting marriage is supporting true family values. We have talked with families and faith leaders in public places and in quiet spaces across the state about the freedom to marry. The overwhelmingly positive response is heartening and inspiring.

So it begs the question: Why?

What should our representatives be working on? I would think that health and education, transportation, agriculture, the environment and our infrastructure would top the list. I would like to see the decriminalization of AIDS/HIV in the state. I would like to make sure that we are addressing the needs of our most vulnerable Iowans. The fact that I will marry the woman I love this year should not be on anyone’s list of issues to work against.

For nearly four years the freedom to marry has been an Iowan reality. It’s a good thing. People are getting married. Some are moving to Iowa, along with their families, to get married. Some are staying in Iowa to stay married. We pay our taxes. We shovel our sidewalks. We are good neighbors and colleagues. Our families are important and precious to us. We are good for Iowa.

Yet for some reason, these 35 members and Mr. Vander Plaats continue to work against us. They continue to work against loving and committed couples, and quite frankly I still do not understand why.

Read the full article from Patch.
Read more One Iowa in the News.
Read more In the News.

Statement
March 6, 2013

Contact:
Molly Tafoya
515.288.4019 x207
molly@oneiowa.org

Senator Grassley Continues Pattern of Obstruction of Qualified Judges to Vacant Seats
Statement from Iowa Fair Courts Coalition

(Des Moines, IA)—Today the U.S. Senate failed to reach enough votes to achieve cloture for Caitlin Halligan, a nominee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit – widely considered the second most important court in the country, after the Supreme Court. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, the Ranking Minority Member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, voted against Halligan, leaving the circuit court with four vacancies. If confirmed, Halligan would have been only the sixth woman to serve on the DC Circuit in 119 years.

The Iowa Fair Courts Coalition includes: One Iowa, Americans for Democratic Action, Working Families Win, and the Iowa Citizen Action Network.

Statement from Iowa Fair Courts Coalition:

“The Iowa Fair Courts Coalition is appalled that Senator Grassley has continued his pattern of needlessly obstructing qualified judges like Caitlin Halligan. Halligan is a highly competent judge, and her experience in public service and law enforcement would have been a valuable addition to the D.C. Circuit Court. Additionally, she would have been only the sixth woman to serve in 119 years. Senator Grassley and Senate Republicans had the opportunity to confirm this exemplary judge, but instead chose to filibuster her confirmation vote. At a time when the D.C. Circuit Court is facing four vacancies, justice delayed is truly justice denied.

The Iowa Fair Courts Coalition is committed to holding our political leaders accountable for any delays in confirming qualified nominations to fill judicial vacancies. We call on Senator Grassley to end obstruction for obstruction’s sake and swiftly confirm qualified judges. The American people deserve justice, not partisan politics at its worst.”

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Background on Halligan & the D.C. Circuit Court

The D.C. Circuit has sole responsibility for deciding cases having to do with the balance of powers of the branches of government and decisions made by government agencies affecting issues like health care, national security, environmental rules, and consumer protections and workplace safety. More U.S. Supreme Court justices have come from the D.C. Circuit than any other circuit court, including four current Justices.

Halligan was first nominated in 2010 and brings a wealth of experience to a court that is facing a troubling number of vacancies. She has devoted her career to public service, currently serving as General Counsel of the Manhattan District Attorney. Halligan would have been only the sixth woman to serve on the D.C. Circuit in 119 years. The court impacts all Americans because it hears cases on the balance of powers of the branches of government, as well as decisions made by government agencies affecting issues like health care, national security, environmental rules, consumer protections, and workplace safety.

from CNN Radio.

In Iowa, same-sex couples can get married, but face legal hurdles when becoming parents to a newborn child. A court battle aims to resolve what gay rights advocates call “the Iowa anomaly.” CNN's Nova Safo reports.

Listen to the story here.

Listen to the story from CNN Radio.
Read more One Iowa in the News.
Read more In the News.

Statement
February 27, 2013

Contact:
Molly Tafoya
O: 515.288.4019 x207
molly@oneiowa.org

Fair Courts Coalition Calls for Senate Floor Vote of Jane Kelly, Nominee for Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals
Response to Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on Kelly’s Nomination

(Des Moines, IA)— Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing for Jane Kelly, nominee for the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. President Barack Obama nominated Jane Kelly on January 31. If confirmed, Kelly would become the second woman to ever sit on the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.

During the hearing, Senator Tom Harkin spoke highly of Jane Kelly, saying, “Ms. Kelly is a credit to all of us who have chosen to be public servants,” and that she is “highly qualified to serve. I urge this committee to act swiftly to approve her.”

Senator Charles Grassley, who is the highest Ranking Member on the Senate Judiciary Committee voiced his support for Jane Kelly and added that he appreciated the cooperation on nominations between Senator Harkin and himself, saying, “He (Senator Harkin) and I have been doing this together for 28 years." He went on to ask Kelly about her background and experiences, and if they would impact her ability to be fair and impartial. Kelly responded by saying, “I can assure you, Senator, I would do everything I could to make each litigant appearing before me feel that they are treated fairly and I would treat them fairly.”

If confirmed, Kelly would be only the second woman to serve on the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. Senator Al Franken from Minnesota asked Kelly about the role of diversity and experience for a judge. Kelly said, “We are all defined by our experiences[…]we are shaped by those and we can certainly learn from other individuals a great deal if they can help us understand their experiences as well.”

“I think it’s very important to include quality judges on every level of the federal judiciary,” added Kelly.

In order for Kelly’s nomination to move forward, the Senate Judiciary Committee must vote on whether to move the nomination to the Senate Floor for consideration by the full Senate. Iowa Senators Grassley and Harkin play an instrumental role in ensuring Kelly is confirmed by the Senate. Senator Harkin has issued a statement supporting Kelly, and a coalition of Iowa non-profit organizations have encouraged Senator Grassley to help quickly move Kelly through the nominations process.

This coalition includes: One Iowa, Americans for Democratic Action, Working Families Win, and the Iowa Citizen Action Network.

Statement from the Iowa Fair Courts Coalition:

“After hearing from Jane Kelly at the Senate Judiciary Hearing, it is clear that she is qualified, competent and worthy of appointment to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. The Iowa Fair Courts Coalition urges the Senate Judiciary Committee to vote Kelly out of committee and schedule a full Senator Floor Vote in order to continue moving her nomination forward. We support the swift confirmation of Kelly to the Eighth Circuit and urge our Senators to put aside partisan politics and remember what this is about: justice.

As a federal public defender from Cedar Rapids, and only the second woman to serve on the Eighth Circuit, Kelly will be a valuable member of the Eighth Circuit and will serve the states represented by the Eighth Circuit, including Iowa, with integrity, fairness and impartiality.

The Iowa Fair Courts Coalition is committed to holding our political leaders accountable for any delays in confirming qualified nominations to fill judicial vacancies. Given the high number of emergency vacancies around the country and the need to fill all open positions with competent judges who represent a breadth of backgrounds, Americans need our leaders in Washington to put aside the partisan squabbling and ensure that access to justice is neither delayed nor denied.”

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