The Iowa House on Tuesday approved a
bill that seeks to repeal gay marriage in the state, the AP reported.
The Iowa Marriage Amendment (IMA) seeks
to put a question on the 2013 ballot that would define marriage in
the Iowa Constitution as a heterosexual union – and thereby reverse
the 2009 Iowa Supreme Court ruling that brought gay marriage to the
Midwest.
Hundreds of people crowded a public
hearing on the issue on Monday after a key House panel approved the
measure with a 13-8 vote.
Lawmakers in the House approved the
measure with a 62 to 37 vote, which means that at least 2 Democrats
joined Republicans in voting in favor of putting the resolution on
the ballot.
At
Monday's hearing, Danny Carroll, of the socially conservative group
The Family Leader, urged lawmakers to give Iowa voters the right to
vote on the issue.
Gay rights groups decried the vote as
an “attack.”
“Today's vote is a shameful attack on
same-sex couples and their children,” said legal group Lamda Legal.
“History won't look kindly on the politicians who voted today to
attack committed Iowa couples and their kids across the state who
merely want their government to continue to treat them equally.”
The Iowa Supreme Court legalized gay
marriage in a 2009 decision.
A similar version of the resolution
faces a much steeper incline in the Democrat-controlled Senate, where
Majority Leader Michael Gronstal has vowed to block the measure from
reaching the floor.