LUV Iowa



What is the Iowa Marriage Amendment (IMA)?

• The IMA is an amendment to the Iowa Constitution defining marriage between one man and one woman as the only legal union that is valid or recognized in Iowa. The IMA passed the house in 2011 but stalled in the Senate with Mike Gronstal refusing to allow a debate on the issue.

 

 

 

 

 

Why your help is important now, and why you should care

• This session may be the best opportunity to pass the IMA due to the makeup of pro-family legislators.

 

• The citizens of Iowa deserve the right to be heard and to vote on the biblical definition of marriage.

 

• Marriage should not take a backseat to economic issues since strong families lead to a strong economy which leads to a strong nation.

 

 

Sign the Petition!

• Ask your church to help gather signatures.  (Petition drives supporting or opposing legislation are completely legal for churches.) Download the petition here.

 

• Call Greg Baker at 515-263-3495, ext. 18 if you are interested in helping to get signatures.

 


Come to the Marriage Rally on March 20th! Invite your friends and family!

Time:  Arrive at 9:00am, rally begins at 10:00am.

 

Place:  Iowa State Capitol Building 1st Floor (Note:  this year’s rally is not outside.)

 

Getting to the Iowa State Capitol Building is easier than you might think!

Click here for a link to Google Maps.

Click here for a map of the capitol grounds and parking.

 

 

Spread the word!

Download flyers, poster and bulletin inserts here:

Color Flyer and/or Poster

Bulletin inserts – Color

Bulletin inserts – black and white

 


 

 

 

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Detailed information about IMA

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Why a petition and rally?

The Iowa Marriage Amendment (IMA) is currently being stalled in the Senate.  The IMA passed the House last year, the first vote of the four votes needed (see “Steps to Amend the Iowa Constitution” below).  We need your help to encourage our Senators to allow Iowans their Constitutional right to vote on important issues, no matter where they personally stand on the issue of marriage.  You have a right to be heard, and your Senator needs to hear from you!  Sign the petition and come show your support for marriage on March 20!

 

Click here to view the Iowa Marriage Amendment as passed by the Iowa House in 2011 (make sure your pop-up blocker is turned off).

LUV Iowa was formed in 2009 as a swift response to the Iowa Supreme Court’s ruling to overturn Iowa’s Defense of Marriage Act, allowing gays to marry.  Drawing significant national and local attention, the ruling was the culmination of years of systematic infiltration of Iowa’s civic infrastructure by national homosexual advocacy groups.

 

LUV Iowa stands for “Let Us Vote” and calls for a vote of the people to amend the Iowa Constitution in an effort to remove further interference by the court on the legal definition of marriage.

It’s your right to vote on the definition of marriage.

It is time for “We the People” of Iowa to reclaim the political powers vested in us by the Iowa Constitution; to restore the Constitutional separation of powers, and preserve real marriage.

 

The language of the Iowa Marriage Amendment (IMA) is simple:  Marriage between one man and one woman shall be the only legal union valid or recognized in this state.

 

Steps to amend the Iowa Constitution:

  1. The IMA must pass the Iowa House and Iowa Senate.
  2. A general election must occur.
  3. The IMA must pass the House and Senate a second time.
  4. After second passage, the IMA will be put on the ballot for a vote of the people.

 

History

In 1993, the Hawaii Supreme Court declared that denying a marriage license to “couples” of the same sex violated the equal protection clause of the state Constitution.  The Hawaii legislature acted quickly to correct the error of the court, and in 1994, passed a statute to specifically define marriage as the union of one man and one woman.  Subsequently, Hawaii also approved a constitutional amendment affirming the same definition.  Representative Terrance W.H. Tom, the Democrat who chaired the House Judiciary Committee, said at the time, “The judicial branch of government has at this point refused to recognize this legislative policy and continues to act on a path which if left unchecked will represent a very dangerous departure in our democratic tradition.”

 

By tipping their hand in Hawaii, homosexual activists sent a signal to the entire country that they intended to force homosexual “marriage” on the country one state at a time, not through the legislative process, but through their willing partners in the judicial branch. This course of action would both create a so-called civil right to homosexual marriage, and solidify the unconstitutional idea of judicial supremacy. Across the country, legislative bodies began to take proactive measures to defend marriage and to preserve the constitutional separation of powers.

 

In 1998, the Iowa Legislature passed the Defense of Marriage Act.  Since that time, Iowa Code section 595.2 has read, “Only a marriage between a male and female is valid.”   To this date, the language defining marriage has not been revoked or amended by the Legislature.

 

In 2003, District Court Judge Jeffrey Neary granted a divorce to a lesbian couple in Sioux City.  Even though this decision recognized a “marriage” that did not exist, and was a clear violation of Iowa law, in 2005 the Iowa Supreme Court upheld Judge Neary’s opinion. That sent a signal to homosexual activists and lawyers that the time was right to begin a frontal assault on marriage in Iowa.

 

In March 2005, the Iowa House of Representatives voted in support of a constitutional amendment confirming marriage as only between a male and a female.  The House vote provided an indication of the legislative support for the people of Iowa to have a chance to vote on a constitutional amendment.  Later, in 2005, six carefully selected homosexual couples representing several geographic regions of Iowa came to Polk County to apply for a marriage license.  Because the law in Iowa is clear, their request was denied.

 

In December 2005, having carefully selected the plaintiffs, and then having carefully selected a county where the case was most likely to go before a homosexual friendly judge, the New York-based homosexual activist law firm, Lambda Legal, filed a case in Polk County challenging Iowa’s Defense of Marriage Act.

 

In August 2007, Polk County District Judge Robert Hanson granted the request of Lambda Legal and ruled that Iowa’s Defense of Marriage Act was unconstitutional.  Even though he stayed his decision pending an appeal to the Iowa Supreme Court, one homosexual “marriage” was performed immediately following the pronouncement of the opinion.

 

On April 3, 2009, the Iowa Supreme Court upheld Judge Hanson’s opinion, and demanded that the 99 Iowa County Recorders begin issuing homosexual “marriage” licenses.

 

On April 15, 2009, commenting in the Washington Post, Camilla Taylor, a Chicago-based lawyer for Lambda Legal, admitted that she had been active in Iowa for seven years laying the groundwork to manipulate the system in Iowa to force homosexual marriage on the state.  This was the first public admission by a homosexual activist that they had been systematically using the system in Iowa since before the lesbian “divorce” case came to District Court Judge Neary.

 

 

“For to deny, we the people, the right to vote on such an important issue as the definition of marriage in our state and society, is simply appalling.” Rev. Keith Ratliff, Maple Street Missionary Baptist Church, Des Moines, IA