This Saturday, April 10, Drake Law School, in Des Moines, Iowa will be holding a Constitutional Law Symposium regarding Same Sex Marriage. The University has also been informed that members of the Westboro Baptist Church will be protesting the event.
For those who don’t know much about the group, I am attaching information from the most accurate news source out there…wikipedia.
Counter protests are being planned at this time by both Drake undergraduates as well as Drake Law Organizations.
Drake, since the ruling handed down by the Iowa Supreme Court in Varnum v. Brien, has held multiple constitutional law debates and lectures regarding the validity of legalizing same sex marriage, the issues that will and have arisen because of the landmark case, and the political process for upholding the ruling and the attempts for overturning it. They have all been peaceful and well received by the Drake student body and Drake community.
Drake is a small private liberal arts college, located in the historic Drake Community in Des Moines, Ia. We have a long standing relationship with the state legislature and the Iowa Supreme Court.
I am writing this diary on Dailykos.com to appeal to any readers that would be troubled by the Westboro Baptist Church protesting at their local college and if possible join our attempts to unite in a counter-protest to not only outnumber the hate mongers who use God's name as a shield for their irrational beliefs but also to show them that, even in little Iowa, we have people who recognize the need for equality under law and will stand up for rights, even if they don't directly affect our own.
The day the Iowa Supreme Court published their ruling in Varnum, I wrote the below email to all of my friends and foes, knowing that some of the people I was sending it to would not agree with what I had to say.
Below my email, I included one of those emails, from my father - in - law.
First MY email -
The Iowa Supreme Court recently ruled that marriage is to be between two adults.
Reading the news and some of the comments from religious types and self titled holy roller conservatives and that of progressive yuppie liberals on this ruling, I find it absurd that this issue has a right vs. left mentality. Having laws that discriminate against a minority of individuals is a law against humanity. The Iowa Supreme Court ruled that the standing law inhibiting two men or two women to marry was a breach on their civil rights and thus needed to change to ensure the disenfrachised gay community be entirely apart of the Iowa community.
This is a civil rights law that does not breach the Constitutional guarantee of the seperation between Church and State. This will not affect the Church's rights guaranteed in the Constitution. The Church cannot be forced to marry gays and lesbians just as it cannot be forced to employ women or non-Catholics as priests.
It was not long ago that women were disenfranchised-sub citizens inside the United States. African Americans, less than 50 years ago had laws placed against their basic human rights.
Iowa, in the past, was a leader in the progressive movement, Iowa schools were desgregated 100 years before Brown v. Board of Education ruled that "seperate but equal" was not constitutional, desegrating all US schools.
Iowa, was one of the first states to assure all men and women be guaranteed equal rights to public transportation, women to serve on juries and practice law, and one of the first states to make it a crime for businesses to refuse service to anyone based on their race.
While many states had laws making interracial marriage illegal, Iowa, due to its open marriage act, welcomed those in love to get married in Iowa just as we do today.
None of those land mark civil rights victories can be thought today as corrupting our American morals, even though prior to the equal rights laws taking affect, it was apart of our US culture and the American idea, that women were not considered human enough to vote or blacks were considered apart of a sub culture, and some Christians thought a white woman should never be allowed to marry a black man.
This new ruling by the Iowa Supreme Court, does not infringe on your rights or inhibit you and your faith from going about its business. In fact it only ensures that all adult women and men have the right to marry the person they love.
The below link is telling and wonderfully elaborates the important history of Iowa's progress look on civil rights.
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Next my father in law's email -
Dear ******,
It is with great sadness that I read your e-mail. God created marriage not the Government. Governments merely accepted it as right and legalized what God ordained. What this does is legitimizes their way of life, creating a platform to procreate through other peoples children since they cannot further their perverted lifestyle any other way...yes, they want your children, they have no other way of getting children to further their lifestyle. Surely you believe Gods word, Romans Chapter...perhaps you need to reread it. If they want a "life-partner" then let them live in their sin but to soil the sanctity of marriage so they can claim health benefits, make people recognize them, and raise children in their "wholesome ways" is just plain BS. Don't call good, evil and evil, good. I stand in opposition to your view point on this matter. I will however keep you in my prayers...may God make his will clearly known to you.
Love;
*****
Now my last comment - sorry if this does not fit the bill for a diary post on Dailykos.com, I rarely post any comments or diary blogs on here, but I do read posts on here every day. This is a great website and I hope it continues to flourish. Our nation - needs a place where people can communicate with each other and debate issues.
Please if you are available this Saturday and live in the area - come out to Drake and let the people from Westboro know that their hate is not synonymous with American values.
God Bless,
Iowaworker
I MADE THE REC LIST - THANKS AND I HOPE THIS DIARY STRIKES A NERVE
Updated : Here is a link to Drake Law School's Constitutional Law webpage. Scroll down to Constitutional Law Symposium 2010 to see the activities planned. Here is a link to the God Hates Fags website - which states they plan on being here at 7:40 am - God also must hate sleeping in.
