It’s been a bitter battle, but Iowa’s legislature has voted to write sexual orienation into the state’s non-discrimination laws. The House voted 59-37 for the addition, while the Senate passed it 34 to 16, sending a strong message to Governor Chet Culver that the state believes in equality.
Democrat Kevin McCarthy agrees:
It is a historic vote. I also think it was a mainstream vote. This was not some sort of liberal social agenda. This is just saying that under housing and employment, people should not be discriminated based upon their real or perceived sexual orientation.
Conservatives are singing a different, older tune, saying that by amending their constitution, Iowa lawmakers are creating special privileges for the homos and, to a lesser degree, condoning so-called sinful salaciousness. Iowa Family Policy Center President Chuck Hurley fumed: “We don’t think sexually immoral behavior should be made into a protected class. That’s not the purpose of the civil rights code.”
Culver may not have signed the bill yet, but he’s certainly given it the verbal thumbs up. He praised yesterday’s House vote, saying:
To bring Iowans together, we must create an Iowa in which we do not discriminate against anyone, anywhere, at anytime. I am extremely proud of the hard work done in the legislature on this bill, and I look forward to the opportunity to sign it into law.
Of course, trans folk got cut out of the political mix. Sorry guys (girls?), people just don’t get it…
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
(PS: Don’t you love the Iowa motto?)
Legislators support bill protecting gay rights [Des Moines Register]
Iowa House approves gay rights bill; Culver guarantees signature [Globe Gazette]
Dizzy Spins
As always, i appreciate being informed about the struggle for gay rights across the country, but something in this story irritated me. What is the Iowa Family Policy Center, and why do i give a rat’s ass about it president, Chuck Hurley?
Now I know, we have to know our enemies in order to fight them. But Im getting annoyed at how every homophobe with a MySpace account can get quoted in mainstream news stories. We are giving these people power. I looked at the IFPC website and it looks like it’s one guy who took just enough time away from molesting his chickens to slap together a website and a paypal account.
Why can’t we as a society just pretend Fred Phelps and his ilk don’t exist. Only about 35 people in the whole country pay them any mind (outside the papers and TV, that is). Dont ever turn a camera on them, dont put a mike in their face or copy down a word they say. They exist purly to give hatefilled soundbytes to reporters.
I’m a journalist, and I cant tell you how many times Ive seen colleagues dig through the proverbial trash looking for someone to “give the other side.” Even during the Matthew Shepherd attacks, i saw reporters at one of the top mainstream news magazines calling around trying to find some bible-thumper to say it was God’s will.
This isnt a rant against Queery per se, more a call to the media to stop giving airspace and column inches to pissant little bitches. Some homophobes weild considerable power–Falwell, Robertson, etc–and have the power to make our lives difficult. For better or worse, they are newsworthy. But to follow a quote from a US State Senator by a guy who has one tooth in his head is not “fair and balanced.”
Ok, Im gonna have a cookie now. My blood sugar is obviously dangerously low.
Chapeau
Well if Gov Culver signs the bill … it certainly looks like the Iowa State Flag will be true to its word!
I live in Atlanta, and while we maintain a large GLBT community in the metro area … Georgia is as back asswards as ever when it comes to GLBT rights.
It warms my heart to know that the mid-west, the heart of America, is finally coming around – it portends well for our cause.
Vinman
Dear Dizzy,
I understand where you are coming from, and yes it pisses me off to no end also. But it does let the straights know that we are still being persecuted. I have had people say to me well why don’t you and your lover of 27 years get married. You tell them you can’t and they say sure you can in Massachusetts. It’s not that they don’t care it’s just they need to be informed. And having Christian right crazies out there points out to them some of the shit we live with.
John
Romans 1:26-27
26 For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. 27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.