thomascwaters.com

While most eyes will turn this week to the Federal Prop 8 trial in San Francisco, It may be useful to remember that same-sex marriage already exists successfully in a number of states. Even there however, the battle really isn’t over, at least for some.

There will remain some amount of catch up everywhere. Sometimes laws and judicial decisions lead, and the culture has to catch up, and elsewhere, culture leads, and laws follow. Both shifts are needed, for real equality is about how people live, and this is supported by the laws that govern us. California, where, in general, the culture is more progressive, appears to be lagging behind Iowa.  But this says more about the legislative process of California, than it says about how progressive the state is, or isn’t. Iowa, on the other hand, is far less progressive when it comes to the culture, but everything aligned for the legislative (and judicial )process to work in favor of equality. Across the country, we will see progress in both ways in different places, and we need to recognize these differences, while striving for change everywhere.

Republicans have promised to make same-sex marriage an issue during the 2010 legislative session, and the Iowa Family Policy Center is organizing a rally on Tuesday calling on lawmakers to pass a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. But after Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs, told The Iowa Independent he would not allow a vote on marriage this year, social conservative conceded that their chances of passing a constitutional amendment are remote.

via One Iowa launches ad promoting marriage equality « Iowa Independent.