Despite Fierce Campaign by Anti-Gay Activists, Iowans Retain Pro-Equality Justice David Wiggins: VIDEO

Last election, anti-gay activists in the state of Iowa punished three Supreme Court justices who voted to legalize same-sex marriage in the state. Yesterday, they tried to punish a fourth, Justice David Wiggins.

But they did not succeed.

The Des Moines Register reports:

Wiggins, 61, needed a simple majority of votes to stay on high court. With 83 percent of Iowa’s 1,689 precincts reported, Wiggins had 54 percent.

“As I understand the numbers, I think we did get a decisive win” that hopefully will prevent future challenges to judges, said Iowa State Bar Association Cynthia Moser. “We’ve very pleased with the numbers we received.”

Bob Vander Plaats, head of the Iowans For Freedom committee that spearheaded a campaign to oust Wiggins, conceded defeat late Tuesday. However, he said the apparent small margin for retention was “not a great validation for Justice Wiggins.”

Thousands of voters on Tuesday repeated the message sent two years ago that they didn’t want the courts to make law, Vander Plaats said. “I think the courts understand that people of Iowa still have a voice if they chose to go outside their constitutional boundaries.”

Said HRC President Chad Griffin:

"Iowans have made a strong statement for judicial independence and refused to let politics get in the way of judges doing their duty to uphold the law. Right-wing groups trying to exact political retribution on judges should learn their lesson. Marriage equality remains the law of the land in Iowa and judges will continue to do their jobs."

One Iowa writes:

Here at One Iowa, we are also celebrating a victory by Senator Mike Gronstal in Council Bluffs who has put his career on the line in defense of marriage for all loving and committed couples and has led Iowa in the right direction. With his reelection, voters sent a clear message that Iowans stood up for Senator Gronstal because he stood up for Iowa families. We look forward to working with Senator Gronstal and the pro-equality majority in the upcoming legislative session on the issues that matter most to Iowa families.
 
Justice Wiggins withstood the attacks by anti-equality forces in this state and was retained by the voters of Iowa. With the retention of Justice Wiggins, we sent a strong message to Mr. Vander Plaats and his friends at the National Organization for Marriage: Iowans are proud of our state that values equal protection and all families.

Watch Vander Plaats react to the Wiggins retention, AFTER THE JUMP...

Competing Bus Tours Vilify, Defend Iowa Supreme Court Justice

Iowa Supreme Court Justice David Wiggins was the center of attention today as two competing bus tours kicked off to attack and defend the Iowa Supreme Court Justice whose career is on the line this November.

On one side there stood the likes of failed presidential candidate and former Sen. Rick Santorum, perennial gubernatorial candidate Bob Vander Plaats and others who are trying to oust Wiggins for participating in a unanimous 2009 decision allowing marriage equality in the Hawkeye State. Three other justices were voted out in 2010.

"Justice Wiggins used the Constitution and twisted it to undermine the other thing that our founders understood to be necessary – virtue," said Santorum, according to the Des Moines Register.

He also told his bus' crowd that Wiggins and his peers' unanimous vote amounted to "tyranny of the oligarchy, the tyranny of people who believe they should determine what’s best for us.”

On the other side, driving their own bus directly in the wake of Santorum et al's campaign, there stood Democrats and other allies who are fighting to keep Wiggins on the bench. But their campaign is more about keeping politics out of the judicial branch than a debate about morals, as the right would have it.

"We don’t want to return to the days where politics have been injected into our system, and remove the fair and impartial courts that we have, [that are] well-respected throughout this country," said Des Moines-based attorney Guy Cook.

Both sides of this divide will be touring all week and hits a total of 17 cities, so watch out Iowa!

At Family Leadership Summit, Iowan Conservatives Vow To Defeat Judge Wiggins

Yesterday, nearly 1,000 of Iowa's religious conservatives gathered in Grace Point Church, in Waukee, for the Family Leadership Summit. They did not seek to eliminate child hunger or illiteracy or poverty in Iowa, or to ensure that Iowa's children receive their vaccinations. They instead listened to addresses from Rick Perry, Rick Santorum, Mike Huckabee, Rep. Steve King, and others, and plotted the defeat of Supreme Court Justice David Wiggins, who's up for a retention vote this year. Judge Wiggins is one of the seven Iowa Supreme Court Justices who ruled against the Iowa Defense of Marriage Act in 2009.

The campaign to unseat Judge Wiggins was announced by failed gubernatorial candidate Bob Vander Plaats. From the AP:

“When you raise your hand and you swear an oath to the constitution and then you go outside of the constitution, outside of your separation of powers to legislate from the bench . . . we the people must hold a person like that in check,” said Vander Plaats, chairman of [the anti-Wiggins campaign,] Iowans for Freedom.

Earlier this month, Andy reported that the state GOP is gunning for Judge Wiggins, too.

Three of the justices who threw out the Iowa Defense of Marriage Act have come up for retention vote since the ruling. All three have been ousted.

Bob Vander Plaats Joins Right's Flailing Starbucks Protest: VIDEO

 

Social conservatives are keeping up oppositional pressure on Starbucks over the company's support for gay marriage and equality in general.

Though the coffee giant has basically shrugged at the protest, Iowan anti-gay activist Bob Vander Plaats, a three-time failed gubernatorial candidate who wields mind-boggling power as head of the Family Leader, yesterday released a new video explaining to his followers that he's given up on Starbucks because the company "turned their back on God's design for the family," and he's urging others to, as well.

As we know, of course, this protest has had no impact on Starbucks: the company's stock has only risen since the protest began.

Watch Vander Plaats' desperate plea, AFTER THE JUMP.

Update: Joe.My.God points out that this video is an updated version of a previous Vander Plaats video, one in which he erroneously claimed Starbucks believes "God's design of marriage is bad for America."

NOM's Brian Brown, Bob Vander Plaats Lead Crowd of Chanting Bigots at Anti-Gay Iowa Rally: VIDEO

NOM's Brian Brown was on hand with The Family Leader's Bob Vander Plaats yesterday at the Iowa Capitol to demand lawmakers put a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage to a vote.

Check out videos of Brown and Vander Plaats' speeches, plus a news report, and a clip of red-shirted 'Family Leader' bigots chanting for the right to vote to take away the rights of gay people, AFTER THE JUMP...

The AP reports:

Vander Plaats, a former gubernatorial candidate who led the campaign to oust three state Supreme Court judges after their decision to allow gay marriage in 2010, joined other gay marriage opponents at the Statehouse for a Tuesday news conference. They unveiled petitions, signed by about 20,000 people, demanding that lawmakers debate the resolution that would put the constitutional amendment to a vote.

The Republican-controlled House has approved the resolution, but it hasn't been brought up in the Democrat-controlled Senate. Senate Majority Leader Michael Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs, said he will block debate on the measure during the final month of the session, which is scheduled to end in the middle of April.

Check out videos of Brown and Vander Plaats' speeches, plus a news report, and a clip of red-shirted 'Family Leader' bigots chanting for the right to vote to take away the rights of gay people.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

Blogger AKSARBENT has a good report on the counter-protest and response from LGBT rights group One Iowa.

As does Ames Patch:

Democratic senators shot back at Vander Plaats, who unsuccessfully ran for governor three times and is now the front man in the effort to ban gay marriage.

“The truth needs to be told: Bob Vander Plaats needs to get a real job instead of working on spreading a message of hate and discrimination,” said state Sen. Matt McCoy, D-Des Moines, who is openly gay. “It’s time for Bob Vander Plaats to hang it up. He’s been running for governor for what seems like the last 20 years.”

The Family Leader, NOM, and Catholics to Hold Hate Rally in the Iowa Capitol Today

Iowa's most virulent anti-gay activist, Bob Vander Plaats, is holding a hate rally in the Iowa Capitol today at 10 am, the Des Moines Register reports:

The Family Leader, a conservative Christian organization, will hold a rally in the Capitol Rotunda aimed at convincing the state Senate’s Democratic leaders to take up a proposed constitutional amendment prohibiting same-sex marriages...

...The Family Leader rally, sponsored in conjunction with the National Organization for Marriage and CatholicVote.org, will implore the Senate to “let us vote.” The organization, headed by former gubernatorial candidate Bob Vander Plaats, also expects to deliver a petition containing more than 20,000 signatures in favor of the amendment in the coming week.

“Even though the economy dominates the legislative discussion, it is apparent that Iowans want to be heard on this issue as well,” Vander Plaats said in a statement announcing the rally. “Teaming up with the Catholic community for this rally sends a strong message to Democratic Senators to ‘let us vote.’”

LGBT rights group One Iowa will be holding a counter-protest outside the building. According to the paper, it "will feature speakers from Iowa Republicans for Freedom, a GOP group that supports same-sex marriage, the Interfaith Alliance of Iowa, the AFSCME Council 61 union, state Sen. Matt McCoy and a married couple from Solon."

Think Progress LGBT has posted a video of some of Vander Plaats' ugly video moments.

Watch it, AFTER THE JUMP...