Iowa

Presidential candidate Barack Obama was grilled on his gay "marriage" stance in Iowa on Monday, a day after he featured an ex-gay Christian artist and openly gay pastor during a gospel music tour.

During a live presidential dialogue presented by MTV and MySpace at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, the Illinois Senator repeated his support for civil unions that offer the same benefits to same-sex couples as traditional marriage but stood against gay "marriage."

"You want the word marriage and I believe that the issue of marriage has become so entangled – the word marriage has become so entangled with religion – that it makes more sense for me as president, with that authority, to talk about the civil rights that are conferred" with civil unions, said Obama, according to The Des Moines Register. more >>

Presidential hopefuls seeking to win conservative voters were quick to voice criticism of an Iowa county judge’s ruling to allow gay “marriage” in his county despite the state’s ban on same-sex civil “marriage.”

Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney was the first to denounce the decision by Polk County Judge Robert Hanson, who last Thursday ruled that the state’s decade-old same-sex “marriage” ban violated the couples’ constitutional rights. Romney even voiced support of a federal ban on same-sex “marriage.”

“The ruling in Iowa … is another example of an activist court and unelected judges trying to redefine marriage and disregard the will of the people as expressed through Iowa’s Defense of Marriage Act,” the Republican contender said in a statement shortly after the ruling was made, according to The Associated Press. more >>

A county judge in Iowa ordered local officials to process marriage licenses for six homosexual couples after ruling Thursday that the state’s decade-old same-sex “marriage” ban violated the couples’ constitutional rights.

Polk County Judge Robert Hanson ruled that Iowa’s 1998 Defense of Marriage Act, which allows marriage only between a man and a woman, must be nullified, severed and stricken from the books, and the marriage laws "must be read and applied in a gender neutral manner so as to permit same-sex couples to enter into a civil marriage ..."

Couples – such as the six that are suing the county after being denied marriage licenses in 2005 – “may not be denied licenses to marry or certificates of marriage or in any other way prevented from entering into a civil marriage pursuant to Iowa Code Chapter 595 by reason of the fact that both persons compromising such a couple are of the same sex," he stated. more >>

Republican presidential contenders Mike Huckabee and Sam Brownback downplayed their losses in the Iowa Straw Poll this past weekend, both expressing hope for a stronger show in the future.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney won the poll with 4,516 votes, or 31.5 percent, but Huckabee said he was not too disappointed that he came in second with 2,587 votes or 18.1 of the voters.

“It wasn’t just that we surprised people with a second showing, it’s that we did it with so few resources,” said Huckabee on Sunday, according to The Associated Press. “This really was feeding the 5,000 with two fish and five loaves.”. more >>

Republican presidential candidate Sam Brownback is reaching out aggressively to communities, including influential evangelical leaders, weeks ahead of the Aug. 11 straw poll in Ames, Iowa.

The Kansas senator who describes himself as a "bleeding heart conservative" met with more than 15 evangelical pastors in West Des Moines this week and said religious conservatives are moving in his direction as they become aware of his position opposing abortion and gay marriage.

"It's typical in an election that people hold back and want to get a good feel for the candidate," said Brownback, according to The Associated Press. "Now we're getting within eyeshot of Aug. 11 and they're breaking and a lot of them are breaking our way." more >>

Correction appended

The state of Iowa has renewed the contract for a decade-old Bible-based prison rehabilitation program for its final year despite a federal court order that plans on shutting down the operation.

The InnerChange Freedom Initiative (IFI), sponsored by the Va.-based Prison Fellowship, was deemed unconstitutional last year by Federal Judge Robert Pratt, who ordered the program to be terminated. The judge held off on closing it, however, since an appeal is pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals, so the organization has been able to continue with support from private funding and donations. more >>