Iowa House Judiciary Committee Approve Anti-Gay Marriage Resolution; Public Hearing Scheduled For Next Week

House Judiciary Committee members in Iowa approved a resolution Monday evening that could eventually eliminate same sex marriage rights in the state, the Mason City Global Gazette reporting the House Joint Resolution 6 passed 13-8 with all the Democrats on the committee save Representative Kurt Swaim (Democrat-Bloomfield) voting against the measure. Swaim said “In my opinion we can trust the citizens of Iowa to study and understand the issues. Iowans are fair, honest and smart. They are up to it. And the bottom line is simply this: The Iowa people are ultimately arbitrators of their own constitution.” House Republicans agreed to schedule a public hearing next week, although the specifics of that hearing have not yet been set. The resolution would amend the constitution to declare that “marriage between one man and one woman shall be the only legal union valid or recognized in this state.” Passage in the full House is an almost certainty, where the GOP control 60 of the 100 seats. However it faces slimmer chances of survival in the Senate, where Majority Leader Michael Gronstal (Democrat-Council Bluffs) has vowed to block the measure, saying he would not write discrimination into the Constitution.