I opened the local weekly newspaper today to see a headline and picture of two smiling men, both of whom I know a little, who took out their marriage license on Monday. They plan to get married tomorrow and have a celebration at their lake home this summer.
The other two headlines were about a the new school superintendent's legal troubles and a local eating establishment fire. That's a lot of news for a small county with a population of 15,000 people 9 months a year and about 120,000 during the summer.
My principal brought the paper into our CPR training this evening. As we read the article, the focus was on the school situation and not the gay marriage. Twice I brought the chit chat to the beaming couple. No one was really interested. It just wasn't important to this group.
There's more!
When I first saw the picture, I felt for the two men because of the harassment they would receive. I worry about how much hate mail they will receive. Let me explain. I live in Steve King's Congressional District. He said that McCarthy was an "American hero." After that, he received 60% of the vote in his next election. He ran in 2004 campaigning that gay marriage was the most important issue in the nation.
Our state legislators are both conservative Republicans who have written extensively in the same paper about the horror of the Supreme Court legalizing gay marriage. (Our State Senator has had multiple wives, but he worries about the effect of gay marriage has on my marriage!)
On our local (if you can consider 86 miles away local) television station had a poll of Obama's first 100 days. The poll asks visitors to their website to grade President Obama A-F. My last visit showed more than 54% of the respondents had given Obama an F! If you want to freep it, here's the link: http://www.kmeg.com/...
All of this is important because the people in the school lunch room were nearly all coaches who tend to be more conservative than the average teacher. What's more, the EMT trainers are also usually more conservative.
Here's my point: NO ONE WANTED TO TALK ABOUT THE TWO GAY MEN GETTING MARRIED IN OUR COUNTY! They just didn't care.
My son lives in Washington state. After the Iowa Supreme Court ruling, he wrote a blog for "The Melon." He contended that for his generation the idea of gay marriage is no longer part of the culture wars. His generation has looked at it, accepted it, and moved on. Only a few of my students in our tiny rural high school, (300 enrollment) oppose gay marriage. This is a huge change from a couple of years ago.
That's why it is so important that Democrats who are hearing from the crazies all over this state and country understand that this issue will not hurt them in the next election. Those against gay marriage are not going to vote democratic anyway. The only way to kill their political aspirations is to vote with the bigots.
What should I do? I am a little worried about the hate mail this couple will receive. Should I send a wedding card?
After reading about the Matthew Shepard Hoax, I had to write a positive diary. Living in rural Iowa drives me crazy at times. However, change can happen and the change agent is people who speak truth to the spin machines.