SHAMEFUL: Rep Hagenow Seeks to Exclude Gay Spouses from Domestic Abuse Statute
State Representative Chris Hagenow of Windsor Heights led the charge today seeking to exclude married gay and lesbian couples from a domestic abuse bill.
The attempt failed after Speaker of the House Pat Murphy ruled the move "non-germane" to the bill at hand and a procedural attempt to suspend the rules and bring the matter to the floor failed largely along party lines.
Shame on Representative Chris Hagenow for playing politics with the domestic abuse bill! Seeking to exclude married gay couples from equal protections is unconscionable.
Let him know we don't approve of him putting political charades ahead of protecting Iowa families!
http://eqfed.org/campaign/SHAMEFUL
More from the Register's Jason Clayworth:
Don’t define gays under domestic abuse protection, lawmaker proposes
A Windsor Heights representative unsuccessfully lobbied for the House today to adopt an amendment to a domestic abuse bill that would have defined a spouse as between one man and one woman.
Senate File 2357 brings federal laws concerning protective orders and conviction of domestic violence with relation to possession of guns into Iowa’s law.
Rep. Chris Hagenow, R-Windsor Heights, offered an amendment that would define the term spouse to be a person of marriage that is valid under Iowa law that says marriage is between one man and one woman.
The Iowa Supreme Court, last year, ruled the law was unconstitutional, which Rep. Rick Olson, D-Des Moines, pointed out on the House floor.
Ultimately the proposal was deemed not germane to the bill. Hagenow’s call to suspend the rules to move forward anyway failed, largely along a party vote.
