Iowa Senate Majority leader Mike Gronstal is on a tear this week. On Monday he rejected Republican efforts to bring a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage to the Senate floor. Read his remarks here (scroll to the bottom) or watch the video:

On Tuesday Gronstal in effect dared conservatives to push for a Constitutional Convention, which might consider adopting an amendment to ban gay marriage. From the Des Moines Register:

"I'm inclined to hope they succeed, if that's their strategy," said Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, who has saluted Friday's Iowa Supreme Court ruling legalizing gay marriage. "There's a lot of good, progressive issues that we could pursue: a woman's right to choose, guaranteed health care for all Iowa citizens, workers' rights -- so if there are people that want to help us get to a constitutional convention, that's kind of my dream world."

If Iowa voters approve a ballot initiative next November on calling a Constitutional Convention, the Iowa legislature will draw up rules for selecting delegates to that body. If the convention approves proposed constitutional amendments, a special election will be scheduled, and voters will consider each amendment separately, not as a bloc.

Some Iowa Republicans don't sound eager to roll the dice on this procedure:

Sen. Ron Wieck, R-Sioux City, said he will likely vote against holding a convention. "We have bumps in the road but we're operating pretty well without going in and messing with the Constitution," Wieck said.

Senate Minority Leader Paul McKinley said he will continue to push for a second route toward a constitutional amendment on gay marriage: votes by the Iowa House and Iowa Senate in two consecutive general assemblies followed by a vote of the people.

But McKinley understands why some might have an interest in a constitutional convention.

"I think the reason there is some appeal at least on the surface is citizens feel very disenfranchised from their government," McKinley said. "Democracies are crazy things. Sometimes the people want to do things that maybe the elites don't agree with."

Although I'm confident that over time a large majority of Iowans will come to support marriage equality, I confess that I am a bit nervous about the issue coming to a statewide vote in 2010 or 2011. At the same time, like Gronstal, I can imagine lots of good amendments that might come out of a Constitutional Convention.

Share any relevant thoughts or speculation in this thread.

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There's nothing opponents of marriage equality can do to stop gay and lesbian couples from getting married in Iowa starting on April 24. Over at Daily Kos, Wee Mama posted information about getting a marriage license in Iowa for those who live elsewhere. If you would like to have a religious ceremony, I recommend contacting The Interfaith Alliance of Iowa for help in finding a sympathetic officiant, most likely to be from a United Church of Christ, United Methodist or Unitarian Universalist congregation. Couples wanting a Jewish wedding should contact Rabbi David Kaufman of Temple B'nai Jeshurun in Des Moines, if at least one partner is Jewish and the couple is open to raising children as Jews. Rabbi Kaufman has officiated at a same-sex commitment ceremony and published this blog post on Friday demolishing the arguments against legalizing gay marriage in Iowa.

The political battle over marriage equality will go on for a long time after wedding bells start ringing.

After the jump I will bring you up to date on the political reaction to Friday's Iowa Supreme Court decision, prospects for amending Iowa's constitution, and the latest statewide opinion poll on this subject.

UPDATE: Scroll to the bottom of the post for a very strong statement released on April 6 by Iowa Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal.

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A tip from a reader at Delaware Liberal:

SB 27 by Venables has a hearing tomorrow at 1:00 PM in his committee(Small Business). This is a DE version of DOMA. It appears that the swing vote is George Bunting. Please contact his office at (302) 744-4286 and tell him to vote against this bill.

It's more than just the Delaware version of DOMA. Look at the text:

"A marriage between a man and a woman is the only legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this state."

That would outlaw Civil Unions. Call the Delaware State Senate today!

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While you've been distracted by matters such as the economic stimulus bill and the government's plan for bailing out Wall Street banks, you probably missed an important story of the week:

Groups supporting homosexuality are attempting to co-opt Valentine's Day to promote their agenda. Homosexual activists brought "gay-wedding" cake to the Capitol yesterday, and were lobbying for a radical change to Iowa marriage law. They have asked their supporters to write letters to the editor this week calling for the redefinition of marriage. They are using Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, and text messaging to promote their agenda. Each of their efforts is designed to "change the hearts and minds of Iowa legislators."

That is an excerpt from a message the religious conservative Iowa Family Policy Center e-mailed to its supporters yesterday. I learned of it from the advocacy group One Iowa, which has organized lots of events this week promoting marriage equality. They drew 80 supporters to the state capitol on Tuesday to speak with legislators before and during a "Let Them Eat Cake" reception.

I don't think the Iowa Family Policy Center needs to worry, though. Same-sex marriage advocates will never co-opt Valentine's Day as successfully as florists and those who sell candy and greeting cards have already co-opted the feast day of Saint Valentine. In fact, Christians may themselves have co-opted the Roman festival of Lupercus, which took place on February 14 and 15.

I'm posting about this today because I believe marriage equality advocates in other states can learn from what One Iowa is doing here. In conjunction with partners such as Lambda Legal, they are scheduling movie screenings as well as marriage equality and "Let My Parents Marry" town hall meetings across the state--not only in Des Moines and some liberal college towns. They are strengthening PFLAG chapters in Iowa too. They recently released a report by the Williams Institute of the UCLA School of Law about the expected budget impact of legalizing same-sex marriage in Iowa (pdf file).

I'm impressed by One Iowa's level of activity, given that it may be months before the Iowa Supreme Court issues a ruling in the Varnum v Brien case on same-sex marriage. The Iowa legislature is unlikely to take up this matter before the 2010 session. Even if social conservatives were able to get a Proposition 8-style constitutional amendment through the legislature (which I consider unlikely), the soonest Iowans could vote on the measure would be 2011.

If gay marriage does eventually come to a public referendum in Iowa, the work that One Iowa is doing now will pay dividends.

Even if your state seems years away from moving toward same-sex marriage rights, it probably isn't too early for grassroots organizing on the issue. Someday those PFLAG chapters and other social networks could increase your leverage with policy-makers.

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Which candidates and interest groups did you hear from on the eve of the election?

On Monday afternoon at 1:40 pm I got a robocall urging me to "get the facts" before voting. The "facts" are that Jerry Sullivan (Democratic candidate in Iowa House district 59) supported the Project Destiny proposal, which Polk County voters resoundingly rejected in a July 2007 referendum.

I think the robocall erroneously claimed that Project Destiny would have raised my property taxes, when in fact it would have reduced property taxes while increasing the local sales tax.

The robocall went on to say that Sullivan is financially backed by groups wanting to pass some kind of legislation I couldn't hear, because my son was making a lot of noise in the background. It may have had something to do with unions or collective bargaining, because when I called Sullivan's campaign manager to tell him about the call, he said Republicans were lit-dropping a piece yesterday saying Jerry Sullivan will force you to join a union.

The robocall concluded by saying that the fact is we can't afford Jerry Sullivan, and that the call was "proudly paid for by Iowans for Tax Relief PAC, working to protect family budgets." I stayed on the line with my pen in hand, waiting to write down the phone number, but the robocall did not give a phone number. I thought that was required by law. The robocall did not mention Chris Hagenow, the Republican candidate in House district 59.

Sullivan's campaign had volunteers out in the most Republican part of the district yesterday (the wealthy Clive 4 precinct). They were dropping positive campaign literature, along with a piece about the nine mayors in the Des Moines metro area who have endorsed Sullivan, including Clive Mayor Les Aasheim.

I'm happy to report that the GOTV machine in Iowa is engaged on behalf of Democrats at all levels, as I mentioned in this post yesterday.

Who has contacted you lately about the election, and what did they say?

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