Posted on 04/07/2009 11:30:27 PM PDT by Ol' Sparky
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Gov. Chet Culver on Tuesday ended days of silence on the Iowa Supreme Court's decision allowing same-sex marriage, saying he disagrees with the ruling but is "reluctant to support" amending the state constitution to reverse it.
Culver said in a lengthy statement that he hadn't changed his mind that marriage is between a man and a woman: "This is a tenet of my personal faith."
However, Culver said the issue before the court in its unanimous ruling Friday involved only civil marriage, and that churches and other religious institutions do not have to perform them.
"The court also concluded that the denial of this right constitutes discrimination," Culver said. "Therefore, after careful consideration and a thorough reading of the court's decision, I am reluctant to support amending the Iowa Constitution to add a provision that our Supreme Court has said is unlawful and discriminatory."
Culver made his statement hours after a Republican candidate for governor, Bob Vander Plaats, criticized the governor for not being more clear about where he stood on the gay marriage ruling.
"There's an old saying that silence is golden, but it doesn't apply when people need to know where their elected officials stand," said Vander Plaats, a Sioux City businessman.
The court ruling means same-sex couples can file for licenses in Iowa beginning April 27, and get married as soon as April 30.
Key Democratic legislative leaders have ruled out efforts to start the process of amending the constitution, and Culver's position likely ends that debate for all practical purposes. Social conservatives have been clamoring for the amendment, but even in their best-case scenario Iowa voters could not weigh in on the issue until 2012.
Iowa doesn't have residency requirements for marriage licenses, so same-sex couples from elsewhere could come to Iowa to be married. Vander Plaats said at the least, lawmakers should put residency requirements in place to head off such visits.
"It is wrong to allow people whose states do not allow same-sex marriages to rush into Iowa, get a quickie marriage and rush home to undermine the laws and values of another state," he said.
Culver urged both sides in the emotional debate "to exhibit respect and good will" and said he would focus his attention elsewhere.
"We are in the midst of a serious economic recession," said Culver, pointing to rising unemployment and last summer's record flooding. "That is where, I believe, my focus and energies should lie."
Senate Minority Leader Paul McKinley, R-Chariton, criticized Culver, saying he has broken an earlier promise to oppose gay marriage.
"Gov. Culver has chosen to stand with seven elite justices and deny the 3 million people of Iowa the right to vote on this significant issue," McKinley said in a statement. "This marriage flip-flop is just the latest example of Gov. Culver not providing the leadership that every Iowan deserves."
Get out of those hay fields and carry those pitchforks.
Some of us believe that we are in the beginning stages of the judgment of God on this nation.
I hope I'm wrong.
Since there are two people in the story who are designated as Repubs and since the Governor’s party is nowhere designated as is usual with the MSM when they want to hide the Dem party ID, I assume we can safely assume he is a Demoncrat?
OK Iowa, it’s time to replace some judges and legislators.
And a governor.
We might be on the verge of the rise of the Antichrist to power, who might just be Obama himself. But, Christians and conservatives need to go down swinging. Complacency isn't going to cut it anymore. It's time to get as militant as leftists.
Whereas the marriage issue is actually something he can do something about-- what does he do? He punts.
The gay ragers have intimidated the wits out of too many career politicians. The Guv doesn’t cotton to the idea of angry flamers bedecked in feathers and leather marching on the capitol.
The Antichrist needs the fatal head wound which is miraculously healed, in order to fulfill prophecy.
Maybe the Birthers succeed in getting Obama deposed (or to quit) as President, whereupon there conveniently turns up a vacancy for the U.N. Secretary-General and voila, he’s named King of the World.
As for the gays, the battle happening now in the USA is what Europe saw some decadent decades ago. They’re probably a minor part of the story.
Yeah right. I give it a month before some homosexuals sue an Iowa church because it won't marry them, or won't let them use their facilities to get married.
The minister will be in no trouble, but the facilities question is an issue. If the church lets out the use of their building for anything not church related (perhaps even only as a polling place) then they may be forced to let any Tom, Dick, or Harry in.
Yes, of course he’s a democrat.
Something’s rotten in the state of Iowa. Something may be rotten on FR too (some other threads of this ilk have gotten shunted to Bloggers & Personal)
BTW, Jim Robinson isn't perfect but I don't think that he has any sympathy for redefining marriage
Wait until Iowa crops start to fail, and our food prices go through the roof. California suffered fires and drought galore after their Supreme Court legalized same-sex “marriage.” My favorite example is Russia. After it became officially atheist in 1922 (USSR established), it was one bad harvest after another.
Seems like too small a data set to conclude a purely divine curse. Communism’s curse was that of being just plain stupid. Men fancied they could do better with a planned economy than with a free one, but the vagaries of sun and rain and climate and crop growth never followed the plan. So there was agricultural waste. California has had one year with this idiot court (before Prop. 8 arguably mooted it) and commonly gets fires and droughts. Probably the Westborans won’t get their wishes/prophecies in Iowa either. Not even Sodom went under until the last “righteous” people had fled.
Does Iowa’s Culver have any relationship with the Culver chain of ice cream and “butterburger” joints?
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