Republicans in the Iowa House and Senate failed this morning to force floor votes on a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. In the Iowa Senate, only one of the 32 Democrats joined the 18 Republicans in signing a petition that would have brought a marriage amendment to a vote on the floor. Shortly thereafter, only one of the 56 Iowa House Democrats voted with the 44 House Republicans on a procedural motion that would have brought a similar measure to the floor. I covered today's events in more detail at Bleeding Heartland. The upshot is that the marriage issue is likely dead for this year's legislative session.

Iowa House Speaker Pat Murphy and Iowa Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal strongly supported the Iowa Supreme Court's Varnum v Brien ruling last April, and they deserve a lot of credit for holding their caucuses together today.

Republicans hope to pick up some statehouse seats by slamming Democrats for blocking a marriage amendment. However, recent polling data suggests gay marriage is not a high priority for most Iowans.

Meanwhile, the New Hampshire House Judiciary Committee voted down two bills today that were aimed at repealing same-sex marriage rights in that state. Good for them.

In other encouraging news, "Gay military rights advocate Lt. Dan Choi has been called back into drill duty," The Advocate reported.