Marriage Equality update

Compiled from AP dispatches.

“On the national scene, there's no question that attitudes have shifted, evidenced by a trio of states where voters legalized gay marriage for the first time. That followed more than a decade of votes to limit marriage to between one man and one woman in states as diverse as California and North Carolina.” – Tom LoBianco,  Associated Press (See full story from Indiana, below.)

In two red states, legislators show reluctance to take action on gay marriage bans, given the apparent swing in the national mood, and the Supreme Court’s consideration of whether such bans are constitutional. A decision is expected in June after hearings in March.

IOWA: GOP lawmakers say focus not on gay marriage 
CATHERINE LUCEY,Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Since Iowa's legislative session started a month ago, conservative lawmakers have filed bills on school funding, taxes and abortion, but so far they haven't taken up gay marriage legislation.

Some supporters of gay marriage said that could signal more support of same-sex marriage, but Iowa lawmakers argued it's more about priorities.

After repeatedly pushing for legislative action to put a constitutional amendment before voters that would overturn the 2009 Iowa Supreme Court ruling that legalized gay marriage, Republicans said they're now simply focused on other issues.

Still, some like Donna Red Wing, executive director of One Iowa, the state's largest gay advocacy group, senses a change.

"I was at an event with a bunch of legislators and they were mentioning priorities and they didn't mention marriage. I think we are seeing a turning," said Red Wing, who moved to Iowa so that she could marry her longtime partner. "I think the will is lessening."

When the court unanimously ruled that Iowa's ban on gay marriage violated the state constitution's equal-protection clause, the state became the nation's third to legalize same-sex unions. Nine states and Washington, D.C., now have legalized gay marriage, and between 2009 and 2011 there were 4,600 gay marriages in Iowa, according to the state department of public health.

Republicans won a majority in the House in 2010 and have tried to begin the multi-step process of referring a proposed amendment to voters, but they have been stopped by Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal. The Council Bluffs Democrat has refused to allow a vote on such legislation, saying he wouldn't allow debate on a measure that seeks to put discrimination into the state constitution.

Despite a high-profile effort to defeat him last November, Gronstal easily won re-election and Democrats held onto their two-seat majority in the Senate. Republicans retained a majority in the House during the election, which also saw voters retain Supreme Court Justice David Wiggins despite an effort by conservatives to defeat him because he joined in the gay marriage decision.

Given the continued presence of Gronstal and Democratic control of the Senate, Republican leaders said they're focused on other matters, such as Iowa's education and property tax system, and not gay marriage.

"We have already voted on that. I don't know if a bill will be filed. It may or may not be," said House Majority Leader Linda Upmeyer, R-Clear Lake. "The Senate hasn't changed. The House hasn't changed. We still support the issue, but the Senate isn't going to take it up."

Some Republicans, however, think their party might be slowly shifting its views on gay marriage.

Jeff Angelo, a former Republican senator who now lives in Ames, announced his support for gay marriage rights in 2011. Angelo said he thinks more legislators will change their minds on the issue.

Since same-sex marriage is already state law, Angelo said some Republican legislators might welcome the opportunity to end the campaign for a constitutional amendment.

"I think there's growing support in the Republican ranks for same-gender marriage, particularly in a state where it is the law of the state. There has been no disaster visited on the state because there has been same-sex marriage," said Angelo, the founder of Iowa Republicans for Freedom, which supports gay marriage. "I think there are some that have friends, relatives that are gay that would rather just let this go. "

Angelo noted that support for the state's same-sex marriage law appears to have grown since the 2009 ruling. A 2012 poll commissioned by The Des Moines Register found that 56 percent of Iowans said they would oppose an amendment banning gay marriage. That was up slightly from a year earlier.

Plenty of Republicans take a different view.

GOP party chairman A.J. Spiker affirmed the party's opposition to gay marriage during a taping Friday of the public television program "Iowa Press," calling the Democrats the state's "gay-marriage party."

Sen. Dennis Guth, R-Klemme, said he planned to introduce legislation in the Senate, but acknowledged it would likely not advance.

"I campaigned on this issue and it's an issue my constituents expect me to take action on," Guth said. "I'm not holding my breath to see if it's going to be passed."

With little happening at the Legislature, groups opposing gay marriage have tried to figure out their approach. Chuck Hurley, vice president of conservative advocacy group The Family Leader, which campaigned to try and oust Gronstal and Wiggins, acknowledged that the short term outlook is bleak for gay marriage opponents in Iowa.

"The makeup of the Legislature is quite similar to two years ago. We don't need a bunch of votes and all that stuff. We know where people are," said Hurley. "We're going to continue to do what we can. The question is what can we do."

Hurley said the group is already talking to potential candidates to run for the Legislature in 2014 in an effort to get a more supportive General Assembly.

But Red Wing said she thinks more and more states will join Iowa, noting voter approval same-sex marriage in several states in the last election and efforts continuing in Rhode Island.

"Things are moving," Red Wing said.

INDIANA: Delay on gay marriage debate not a sign of victory 
TOM LoBIANCO,Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Punting on gay marriage was probably the best move Senate President Pro Tem David Long and House Speaker Brian Bosma could have taken on an issue that might otherwise have shoved aside debate on workforce development and education spending, but it hardly clears the field of the issue.

Long and Bosma, who lead supermajorities in their respective chambers, consulted their caucus members last week and came away with essentially the same argument they had been making since the start of session: There's no point in fighting a bitter battle until they see whether the U.S. Supreme Court rules state-level bans unconstitutional this summer.

"It seems prudent for us to wait, given that the Supreme Court could find ours as well as many other statutes around the country, and constitutional amendments, unconstitutional according to the federal constitution, which would take priority over our own," Long said.

Opponents of writing the ban into the state constitution claimed a temporary victory, even though both leaders made it clear they will be pushing the issue next year if they get a green light from the Supreme Court.

With decisive Republican majorities in both chambers and large numbers of Democrats who supported the ban when it first came up for a vote in 2011, the measure is all but guaranteed to clear the General Assembly a second time if it is brought up for a vote.

That confidence was reflected by supporters of the ban like American Family Association of Indiana Executive Director Micah Clark, who declared: "A delay may be a disappointment, but it is not a defeat."

Assuming that the ultimate decision would come from voters on Nov. 4, 2014, the gay marriage battle was always going to play out in public. The General Assembly would be just a stop along the way.

But public attitude toward gay marriage is continually shifting, according to most polling. Bosma has said he did not consult any polls in making the decision to wait a year, but he did try to poke holes in a public poll released in December that showed a majority of residents oppose writing the ban into the constitution.

The Bowen Center for Public Affairs/WISH-TV poll found that while Hoosiers are evenly split on whether gay marriage should be legal, 54 percent believe the ban should not be ensconced in the state constitution. Bosma called the poll "unscientific" because it queried residents and not necessarily voters.

On the national scene, there's no question that attitudes have shifted, evidenced by a trio of states where voters legalized gay marriage for the first time. That followed more than a decade of votes to limit marriage to between one man and one woman in states as diverse as California and North Carolina.

Opponents of the ban, led by Indiana Equality Action President Rick Sutton, say they feel that shift in attitudes coming to Indiana.

"We have a lot of work to do, clearly. We know where we were two years ago, but we know where the national movement is going as well. We have 320 days to convince legislators to be on our side," Sutton said.

Those shifting political winds may best be seen in Bosma. Almost a decade earlier, there was no punting on this issue for the veteran lawmaker. In fact, it was so important that he led House Republicans on a walkout in 2004 because then-Speaker Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, blocked the measure.

"This is the most critical piece of the people's business," Bosma shouted at the time.

And it could be "the most critical" issue again in a year, if the Supreme Court gives Indiana lawmakers that green light.