If Republicans in Iowa win control of the legislature in the November elections by winning two more state Senate seats, they can put a referendum on the ballot that could end gay marriage in the state.
According to an Associated Press report, such a ballot measure could not be put on the ballot before 2015, though, because “it must pass both houses of the Legislature in consecutive two-year general assemblies.”
After the state Supreme Court struck down a gay marriage ban, gay marriage was legalized in Iowa in 2009. The next year, all three judges who ruled in favor of gay marriage were voted out of their judgeships, something the AP article conveniently neglects to mention.
The AP article notes that people in Iowa, though, are getting comfortable with gay marriage and cites a recent poll that found 56 percent of Iowans support gay marriage, which is consistent with national polling but also may be reflective of politically correct answers Iowans feel compelled to give to pollsters.
In addition, the increasing number of libertarians in the state has made gay marriage less contentious of an issue. The AP article cites a Republican operative who says only 10 percent of Republicans in the state say overturning gay marriage is a high priority.
And while that number may not be completely reflective of how Republicans may feel if a measure to outlaw gay marriage got placed on the ballot, it shows how much more difficult it is to repeal something once people start getting acclimated to it, which should also be a lesson for Obamacare’s opponents about how important November’s elections are for Obamacare’s fate.
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