Without the support of Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, efforts to amend the Iowa Constitution can not move forward in the Senate. Below is the text of Senator Gronstal’s response to Senate Minority Leader Paul McKinley of Chariton on April 6, 2009, the first day the Senate met after the unanimous decision by the Iowa Supreme Court to allow same sex couples to marry. Transcript One of my daughters was in the workplace one day, and her particular workplace at that moment in time, there were a whole bunch of conservative, older men. And those guys were talking about gay marriage. They were talking about discussions going on across the country. Any my daughter Kate, after listening for about 20 minutes, said to them: You guys dont understand. Youve already lost. My generation doesnt care. I think I learned something from my daughter that day, when she said that. And Ive talked with other people about it and thats what I see, Senator McKinley. I see a bunch of people that merely want to profess their love for each other, and want state law to recognize that. Is that so wrong? I dont think thats so wrong. As a matter of fact, last Friday night, I hugged my wife. You know Ive been married for 37 years. I hugged my wife. I felt like our love was just a little more meaningful last Friday night because thousands of other Iowa citizens could hug each other and have the state recognize their love for each other. No, Senator McKinley, I will not co-sponsor a leadership bill with …
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A tip of the hat to Mike Gronstal for representing the people in their goals of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. He gets it.
Gronstal for President. Many thanks for your leadership.
@thewagesoffear I am 23 I am disgusted that here in Canada it is legal! Not all of us in our generation are a perverted as you are, some of us look to the word of G-d For sustenance and Guidance!
yes, there is a great deal of homosexuality in the animal kingdom… especially birds. Monkeys are horndogs, it s more a question of dominance/submissiveness. There was a famous pair of gay penquins at the Washington zoo……..it’s wrong to argue it’s unnatural…..unbiblical maybe, but not unnatural
This is “West Wing” grade awesomeness. Good for him.
The Mormons thing is strange for another reason: CA Proposition (h)8, and the similar Amendments and proposed Amendments in other States, and the proposed US DOMA, all forbid not only same-sex marriage but POLYGAMY as well.
Every one of them (even the Utah State Constitutional Amendment!) all go out of their way to specify that marriage is defined as between *A* man and *A* womAn!
True, the mainstream LDS faith has not practiced polygamy in over a century, BUT THEY STILL BELIEVE IN IT!
Do you know Who INVENTED the concept of Separation of Church and State, as far as we can tell?
Not Madison (author of 1st Amendment). Not Jefferson (letter to Danbury Baptists about a “WALL of separation” — if you think that that only protects churches from government but not vice-versa, show me a WALL [NOT door, gate, etc.] using ONLY technology known to Jefferson that blocks traffic in only ONE direction).
It predates them by some 1¾ MILLENNIA!
And I capitalized “Who” for a REASON!
Yes, not only are there gay animals, but animals have much more diverse forms of sexuality.
Human sexuality alone is not restricted to straight gay and bi. There are hermaphrodites, and iirc some people’s cells can have strange things going on, like XXY chromosomes, for example.
Deep sea worms called Osedax (which feed on whale bones) have microscopic males which live inside the female host.
Bed bugs violently inseminate females, sperm move to eggs in the blood.
Female hyenas have penises.
@ppolarski, wrong. Marriage existed in civilizations and cultures that LONG predate the Israelites and even the believed date of the Biblical Creation according to Young Earth Creationists.
Judaeo-Christianity does not own the word nor the concept of marriage.
Not.
Yours.
At best, you can claim ownership of the concept of Christian WEDDINGS in your churches, and have the freedom to perform weddings in them for only those whose unions your church approves. But that’s it.
@alleyhse, uh, no. The one thing you said that’s true is true because of a completely different matter: yes, generations do come in cycles of four, according to an en vogue sociological theory.
Generations average about 20 years, not 44. There have been about 13 generations of Anglo-Saxon presence in the New World since Jamestown and Pocahontas, of which maybe 9 or so are since Thomas Jefferson and the Revolutionary War and the actual existence of the USA as a nation.
@ur1234562001 Actually, yes. Homosexuality occurs in tons of different animal species. Try googling “gay penguins”!
tinyurl (dot) com/ gayanimalsWiki
@ur1234562001: Yes, many. Search Wikipedia for “Homosexuality in animals”. Many, many, many animals species engage in homosexual behavior on a regular basis.
This “It’s not natural!!!1111!11!!” argument is plain ignorance.
is there any gay animal or bird?… just curious…
Mike Gronstal is a very good man.
From this families lips to God’s ear!
Now why would I want to do any kind of research, ESPECIALLY SINCE I ALREADY KNOW I’M RIGHT!
/it’s still real to me, dammit!
Your argument is fundamentally flawed, as the bible is fundamentally flawed. You begin by talking about respecting another’s argument, but you completely contradict yourself within your own comment. If you respected others, you would acknowledge the fact that gay people want nothing more than to be treated fairly UNDER THE LAW. Nothing more, nothing less. The tired old saying of “gays want special rights” is just fear mongering, nothing more. Keep your religious beliefs out of OUR government.
Thanks again Mike !!!!
This video is great! It is nice to see someone of a different generation stick up for what is right. God bless you! and thank you!
What I love the best is that he could have just said “No, I won’t co-sponsor the bill” but he took the time to say it so eloquently and show his support for equality for all citizens. Excellent speech! And ppolarski and others, you may believe whatever you want about what God does or does not recognize, but it has no place in making policy in a country founded on the concept of separation of church and state. And the reality is we use the word marriage as a legal term so it should belong to all.
damn right.
Absolutely wonderful. His daughter is right too. The next generation does not care. I live in Massachusetts and no one raises an eyebrow on this very dead subject.
I believe the proper response to what happened there would be:
“Oh snap!”
Well done Senator!
Great to hear a US politician to speak in such a manner. It’s about time people start to think logically on this issue rather than religiously.