In the Life: Ep. 2007, "Backlash or Evolution?"

[Narrator] "In The Life"   is funded in part by the H. van Ameringen Foundation... Patricia Kind in honor of her   brother Henry van Ameringen... arcus Foundation... The Estate of Richard W. Weiland... and by the annual support of "In The Life" members like you. [Silence]. [Host] Although public support for same-sex marriage is on the rise the movement toward full marriage equality  continues to have setbacks. [Sean Eldridge] There are a lot of questions about backlash and about states like New Hampshire and Iowa where the opposition is not standing still. [Host] Tonight on "In The Life..." an attack campaign waged to repeal marriage equality in Iowa. [Judge Robert Hanson] They say that I and the Supreme Court of Iowa exceeded our judicial authority. [Host] And later... [President Barack Obama] "My feelings about this are constantly evolving." [Host] Evolution in the age of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act. [Jonathan Capehart] I don't think voters should be in the position to vote on anyone else's rights. ["In The Life" main title music playing]. [Silence]. [Music playing]. [Host] In December 2005, Lambda Legal  filed a marriage lawsuit in Polk County, Iowa on behalf of six same-sex couples who wanted to marry. The lawsuit known as Varnum v. Brien argued that under the equal protection and due  process guarantees of the Iowa Constitution, it is unlawful to bar same-sex couples from marrying. [Judge Robert Hanson] The ruling came out in late August 2007. The case was then appealed by the defendants  to the Iowa Supreme Court. [David Twombley] Of course we had been sequestered that morning and we did not know the results. [Jen BarbouRoske] You know, our adrenaline went absolutely through the roof. "Okay, this is it." [Dawn BarbouRoske] You've been through so much and it's such an emotional issue. I mean, it's your life. [Unidentified woman making announcement] We won! Not only that...it is unanimous. [Audience cheering and clapping]. [Unidentified woman making announcement, cont.] The Iowa Supreme Court affirmed the lower court ruling ordering the issuance of marriage   licenses to same-sex couples. [Music playing]. [Music playing]. [State Senator Matt McCoy] Iowa has a history of being a state that's among firsts. [Music playing]. Iowa was one of the very first states that actually dealt with slavery before the Dred-Scott decision [Music playing]. and we also allowed school children to attend schools together. Iowa was one of the first to admit women to the bar. So it seems reasonable that Iowa should have taken a position on marriage. [Music playing]. [Jen BarbouRoske] What we have found in Iowa is...is people take you as a person first. As long as you're not harming anybody and you're doing good things with your life, you tend to be supported.  That's one of the, you know... the reasons that we felt like the case was going to be successful is because people here realize..."Well, you know what,  those are my neighbors" or "those are my friends all right, you know. My kids play with their kids..." and they're good people." [Frederique Boudouani] I don't think it was ever a mystery to anybody here in our small community  that we were a gay couple. Who is this two guys that come in open a restaurant out of all businesses and they live together and they do everything together? But there is this interesting thing in Iowa that people sort of don't... don't meddle into your business. I truly think that it's a live-and-let-live state. [David Twombley] Growing up, you know, by the time I was in  junior high I knew I was different... this type of thing and, you know. Maybe the word  "gay" hadn't come to mind but... my parents had had such a wonderful marriage but, you know, I always felt I will never have something like that. You know, I just...you know, never entered  my mind that I could have that and, you know, when all this started and, you know, now I have what they had and that's such a good feeling. [Twombley chuckles]. [Crowd cheering]. [Host] "One Iowa" is the state's largest lesbian,  gay, bisexual and transgender advocacy organization committed to full equality for LGBT individuals. [Carolyn Jenison] "One Iowa" has been focused on preserving the freedom to marry...for Iowans and that has been our focus from a public education standpoint. There's a lot of conversations that have to happen with Iowans right now. But here's the thing, we are up against the... the biggest challenge of this organization's history.   Period. This election is huge. [Host] A lot was at stake during the 2010 midterm elections- control of the Iowa House, the Senate, as well   as the governorship were up for grabs and three of the seven Supreme Court justices, who'd unanimously ruled in favor of same-sex marriage, were also on the ballot for retention. [Bob Vander Plaats] We are going  to take all of our effort, all of our energy, all of our resources, all of our network and we're going to become crystal clear in our focus on unseating three justices on the November 2 ballot. [Host] Bob Vander Plaats campaign against the justices, Iowa for Freedom, was historic. For the first time, it politicized the retention process. [Dan Moore] It was the perfect storm. Bob talked...  the talk about the justices, he painted a picture that stuck with the Iowans that wanted to vote "no" because they were upset about one thing or the other. We were giving the intellectual arguments, where Bob was just giving the sound bites that stuck with the TV and radio. [Voice on TV advertisement] "Liberal, out-of- control judges ignoring our traditions." [Judge Robert Hanson] They say that...that I and the Supreme Court of Iowa exceeded our judicial authority. Because of those people's   disagreement with one decision, the Varnum v. Brien decision, they say that that is a basis for not retaining us as judges. The reason I say that...that is,  at best, a misuse of the retention process and, at worst, an abuse of the retention process is because the retention process was never meant to be a referendum on particular decisions. It rather...it was intended to be uh...uh...an assessment of any particular judges fitness to hold the position that he or she occupied. [Sound effects playing]. [Moore] Justices need to make decisions based on the merits of a case. The case is presented to them, the facts are presented to the justices, and they hear out the facts and then the justices are charged with the duty of applying the law and applying the Iowa Constitution to the facts of a case and from    that they make a decision. They're not influenced by money.  They're not influenced by power. [Music playing]. [Jason Hancock] And that's pretty much where our coverage really kicked off in the next couple of months, is trying to find out- where the money's coming from, what it's going to and who these people are. Now by the time it was...there... they were kicking off their Judge Bus Tour of the state uh... there was a half dozen to,   you know a handful of... of national anti-gay organizations that were spending big money in Iowa. [Mark McCormick] The money that is funding Mr. Vander   Plaats campaign, largely out of state money, contributed by special interests. How much money are you  getting from this uh... marriage organization that's headquartered  in Mississippi, as I understand it? [Bob Vander Plaats] I think the National Organization of Marriage is actually headquartered out of Michigan. [McCormick] How much money are you getting from those groups? [Vander Plaats] I think if you take a look at our independent expenditure reports, because we do follow the  letter of the law, uh...you'll find out exactly  what we're spending... [McCormick] Tell us? Please, tell us? [Audience questioning Vander Plaats] How much? Answer the question. How much? [McCormick] How much are you getting from those groups? [Vander Plaats] You know what, I'm the state   spokesperson and....and chair of this deal, but as far as I'm...well, what we have done and I think what you're... [McCormick] Is it $50 million? Is it a $100 million? [Music playing]. [Host] In the midterm elections, Democrats lost control of the House and Governorship but held on to a slight majority in the Senate. District Judge Hanson was retained but all three Supreme Court justices were unseated. [Justin Uebelhor] The day after the election  was...was a tough day. At the end of the day we woke up and we...    we realized, "Yeah, we had a tough election night- we lost a lot of pro-equality legislators, we lost the three justices but we still realized we had marriage equality in the State of Iowa. [Moore] Bob essentially, in my opinion, took the retention  vote and turned it into a retaliation vote. We've lost three excellent judicial servants- Justices Streit and Baker and Ternus. [Crowd cheering]. So Bob did a real disservice, I think, to the people of Iowa and...and did a great disservice to our judicial branch. [Crowd cheering]. [Hancock] Nobody really took Bob Vander  Plaats all that seriously. He had never won   a campaign before so that was part of the reason, I think, that a lot of people dismissed it. Part of the reason a lot of the media dismissed it was because they didn't think they had to take him seriously but this was a guy that had the money to do it, had the organization to do it and he... was taken for granted that he was not going to be successful in this. [Crowd cheering and chanting]. It really emboldened the social   conservatives and the right. From the very beginning these groups said, "This is step one. Like, we are gonna start here and this is going to send a message to judges all over the country." [Vander Plaat] Iowa is in need of bold leadership today. [Crowd cheering]. [Host] Since the Supreme Court  ruling came down in 2009, same-sex marriage opponents   have been trying to get a marriage amendment  through the Iowa Legislature. An amendment to the Constitution is the only way to change marriage in Iowa. The bill would have to pass through two   consecutive sessions of the legislature then it could go on the ballot for a vote of the people. [Music playing]. [State Senator Michael Gronstal] I see...a bunch of people... that merely want to  profess their love for each other and want state law to recognize that. Is that so wrong? What I've talked to people about is...is give me, you know, give me stories about...about what their life is like. I don't want it to be about me and what I believe. I want it to be about real human beings out there and how their life is different because   we have marriage equality. [Music playing]. [Brian Bruening] You know, it's...it's funny you wouldn't think that the...the institution of marriage would make that much of a difference in your...in the day-to-day life. I mean, we have been together since the beginning and our relationship  clicked very quickly. Marriage allows you to say to people, "This is my husband," and people know automatically what that means. It's not, "This is my partner." I mean, that was always a problem here especially since we are in a business together and because of that you don't get the... quite the same respect or recognition of your relationship that it deserves. Uhm...and whereas marriage clears that up. There...there is no ambiguity in marriage. [Music playing]. [Boudouani] It's a human right issue. Uh...it's not about religion. We're not  talking about religious marriage. I'm not...I don't want to force anybody to take me into their church. I don't want to go to anybody's church. I respect sort of people's traditions. I always say that I didn't come here to change people's... anybody's mind on anything. I came here to live my life. I came here in the pursuit of happiness  like Jefferson so eloquently said and I wish that would be across the board for all of us. [Music playing]. [Host] On January 19th, 2011 a joint resolution, that is the first step toward amending Iowa's Constitution, was introduced in the House. On January 24th a subcommittee meeting was held at the capitol. Advocates on both sides of the  issue were out in full force. [Unidentified man at microphone] This is about House Joint Resolution 6- "Marriage will be between one man, one woman." "And shall be the only legal union valid or recognized in the State." [Unidentified youth] I am here today because I didn't vote on your marriage. So why should you vote on mine? [Unidentified woman] I'm here today because I believe that marriage is between one man  and one woman because I am a Christian. [Unidentified woman] We just want...to stay married. We want to keep our rights. [Unidentified woman] I believe that   everyone deserves the right to vote. [Host] The resolution passed the subcommittee. [Audience clapping]. On January 31st, the Iowa House  held a public hearing. A young man named Zach Wahls stood up and testified against the resolution. [Zach Wahls] Good evening, Mr. chairman, my name is Zach Wahls. I'm a sixth-generation Iowan and an engineering  student at the University of Iowa and I was raised by two women. Our family really isn't so different  from any other Iowa family. You know, when I'm home we go to church together, we eat dinner, we go on vacations. Question always comes down to, "Well, can  gays even raise kids?" And question...you know, the  conversation gets quiet for a moment because most people don't really have an answer and then I raise my hand and say "Actually, I was raised by a gay couple and I'm doing pretty well." Over the next two hours I'm sure we're going to hear plenty of testimony about how damaging having gay parents is on kids but in my 19 years not once have I ever been confronted by an individual who realized independently that I was raised    by a gay couple. And you know why? Because the sexual orientation of my parents has had zero effect on the content of my character. Thank you very much. [People clapping]. [Host] Despite overwhelming testimony against the resolution it passed the House a day later on February 1st.   The issue is now in the Senate. [Sharon Mahlerio] People want to vote  on this constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage and it's...it's...to me, from a civics lesson, inappropriate. You never let the majority decide  on the rights of the minority. Clearly the gay and lesbian population in Iowa is the minority. [Gronstal] I think uh...I think there's a fair-minded majority in the Iowa Senate. I don't think uh...uh...people believe it's appropriate to put discrimination into the State Constitution. I believe what we're doing uhm... will be uh...will be positively received by Iowans. Uhm...so, it's not going to come   up for debate in the Senate as long...as long as   I'm the leader. [Hancock] The big fights on the horizon is going to be in 2012 when Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal...he's up for re-election. I think that's going to be where the next big round of spending is going to be. I think that's going to be where the   next big fight is going to be is if, they think, if they    can knock him off... then no one's gonna stand in the way  of this amendment getting through the Senate. [Music playing]. [Mahlerio] Marriage equality in Iowa is gonna be faced with its biggest challenge this year and next year. The Republican-controlled House and Governor have both said they think a constitutional amendment   should go to the people and they are fighting for bringing a constitutional amendment before the people. So it's...it's...very critical now   more than ever that LGBT people get out there and talk about what this means to them and how losing this right could  be devastating to their lives. [Music playing]. [Silence]. [Music playing]. [Unidentified woman] "And we're married!" [Music playing]. [Host] You're watching "In The Life." [Music playing]. [Silence]. [Music playing]. [Ralph Reed] "Iowa...is a critical... all important state...for changing   the direction of the country." [Sean Eldridge] There are a lot of questions about backlash and about states like New Hampshire and Iowa where the opposition   is not standing still. [Maggie Gallagher] "You know, we're here and we're not where...get used to it." Last year...in 2010 the National Organization For Marriage, which is an anti-gay/ anti-marriage group, which has existed for a few years, they spent more than 10 million dollars fighting us in every state, fighting us in the battle of public opinion and that's a lot of money and they're the tip of the iceberg. [Music playing]. [Silence]. From California, Iowa, Indiana and Wyoming... to Rhode Island, Maryland, New Hampshire and New York 2011 is poised to be a   momentous and pivotal year. Both sides of the marriage equality debate say that they are encouraged the pendulum will swing their way. [Unidentified man] "The President's position on the Defense   of Marriage Act has been consistent- he has long opposed it. " [Host] At the federal level a major policy   shift from President Obama. On February 23rd, he directed the Justice Department to stop defending the  Defense of Marriage Act which has been law  since 1996. [Kenji Yoshino] Attorney General   Eric Holder says that he has been in consultation with the President and he says that they have come to a determination that DOMA, as it's known, is in fact unconstitutional. [Michael Sant'Ambrogio] The Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, defined marriage for purposes of federal law, "as between a man  and a woman." Now this affected a radical change   in a legal landscape. Before this, federal law had  recognized any marriages validly contracted at the state level. There's over a thousand references  to marital status in federal law providing a host of rights and benefits but if you're a same-sex  married couple you do not have access to any of these rights or benefits. You have a second-class  married status. [Host] There are several federal lawsuits  challenging DOMA currently in the courts. For the plaintiffs, Obama's decision   is welcomed news. [Yoshino] The President is not going to defend DOMA against constitutional challenges in courts. The plaintiffs have a new friend in the form of the executive branch. [Host] But at the state level,    nothing changes. [Yoshino] It is a momentous change but one thing that this litigation will not do- one thing that repeal would not do of this particular provision- is to enforce any kind of understanding on the state's about how they should define their  own marriage laws. [Host] At the start of 2011, five states- Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, New  Hampshire, and the District of Columbia- have the freedom to marry but more than half the country  has state constitutional amendments restricting marriage to "one man and one woman." Twenty-nine states in all-  including California. [Sant'Ambrogio] In 2008, the   California Supreme Court held that it was a violation   of the State Constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage. [Crowd cheering] [Sant'Ambrogio] And 18,000 couples got married. However, the ballot measure called Proposition 8, this was passed by the voters of California, and this defined marriage as  between "a man and a woman." Consequently, same-sex marriage came to an end. [Host] Like DOMA, Proposition 8 is also being challenged in the courts but currently remains law. [Sharon Lettman-Hicks] No one   thought we would lose Prop 8. Everybody had to find somebody to blame. Unfortunately, I think the right wing  presented the opportunity to make a case and single out someone because we elected the first African-American as the President of the United States. So let's immediately throw a wedge out there and say the black folks made the gay community lose marriage equality in the   great State of California. [Bill O'Reilly] It is the gay marriage issue that has ignited the anger and fear now, including some racial tension. African-American voters turned down gay marriage 73... [Lettman-Hicks] Great headline. Great sound bite... and we bought into it. [Music playing]. [Jonathan Capehart] It's two steps forward and one step back. You mention Prop 8, you mention the repeal   of marriage rights in...in Maine... all progress has been halting. I mean, it wasn't the... you know, "I Have A Dream" speech on the Mall in Washington and then the next day everything was fine and we got a Civil Rights Bill. That speech was the culmination of   years of effort that started in the 50's. [Protestor's chanting]. "What do we want?" "Equal Rights." 'When do we want it?" "Now!" [Host] Hope for progress in the   State of New York was dashed in 2009. That year, Governor David Patterson   introduced a same-sex marriage bill, only to have it rejected by a decisive vote in the Senate. Democratic Senator Ruben Diaz voted against the bill. [State Senator Ruben Diaz] I am the church and I am...I am the state and I cannot divide myself and was...what I would do in   the state, affect the church... and what we do in the church, affect the state. I'm a pastor. I am an ordained minister. Marriage is sanctioned by God- "between a man and a woman." My hope...is that...that people understand and see that I am...I don't hate gay. I still do what...what I believe. [Richard Socarides] On the marriage marriage equality issue in none of this would we insist that any uh...religious denomination uh...conduct any kind of ceremony or wedding or marriage that they weren't completely comfortable with. All we want to do is have an  equal right to civil marriage. To civilly marry the person we love. Just as any other Americans would. [Lettman-Hicks] I think African-Americans are too singled out. I think you have to look at religious folk and because African-Americans, by population, are overwhelmingly religious folk it's easy to label us and as a faith driven community...  yes, we have a lot of work to do. They are deeply rooted in a lot of ideology. But let's be clear, the African-American community  overwhelmingly does not have marriage. Seventy percent of African-American households are led by single mothers. So, I don't focus on who doesn't   want our community to get married I focus on who  wants to get married. [Protestor's chanting] "Rueben Diaz has got to go!" [Host] Senator Diaz concedes that  with newly elected legislators and a new governor in Albany, marriage equality could come sooner than later. [Senator Diaz] The gay community have a good opportunity, better than ever, to pass gay marriage in New York this year. I will vote against and I will lobby against it, but realistically... this is a good possibility. [Host] As victories and defeats ebb and flow   state-by-state across the nation, public support for same-sex marriage is edging upward. [Scott Keeter] We've been looking   at attitudes about same-sex marriage since 1996 and we've documented a   steady growth in the acceptance of it. In 2010, we found the highest   level of support for same-sex marriage since we began asking this question. Forty-two percent of our respondents said that they were in favor of same-sex marriage. Forty-eight percent said they were opposed. That was the first time that we  haven't had a majority saying that they were   opposed to same-sex marriage. [Host] As public support  moves toward acceptance voters are making   their voices heard in public referendums on who   has the right to marry. [Capehart] I don't think voters should be in the position to vote on anyone else's rights. Do you think in the 1960s that if you ask the voters of Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia...any of the southern states, "You know, should African-Americans have equal opportunity and equal access to rights and benefits?" No, absolutely not. And so... I think to... expect that...but something as controversial as  same-sex marriage uhm...I think, is fantasy. [Host] For both supporters and opponents of marriage equality the battle lines have been drawn but are forever shifting. [President Obama] "With respect to the issue of whether  gays and lesbians should be able to get married, I've spoken about this recently. As I've said,  my feelings about this are constantly evolving. I struggle with this. [Host] And to hear Vice President Biden say it on "Good Morning, America," as 2010 was coming to a close, "it's only a matter of time." [Vice President Biden] The country's evolving and I think there's an inevitability uhm... for a national consensus on uh...on, on gay marriage. But this is the President's policy. But it is    evolving. I think the country's evolving. [Music playing]. [Sean Eldridge] You know, social change   doesn't happen because everyone digs in and holds on to their current position. Social change and legal change happens because people evolve... because people change their mind. So that...I think what's...the people who are really important to engage are the lawmakers who may be  voted against us the first time. Or the family and friends who, a couple years ago in that ballot initiative, they didn't...they didn't quite get it. They didn't quite see where we're coming from. And as the American people evolve, lawmakers will evolve, judges will evolve... that's how social change happens. So, I think, we have to embrace that. [Music playing]. [Silence]. [Music playing]. [Host] Thank you for watching "In The Life." To learn more about the issues in tonight's program or to tell us your thoughts about the show text ITL to 69866  on your mobile phone or visit itlmedia.org. [Crowd in hallway signing] "What the world needs now is love, sweet love." "No, not just for some, but for everyone." [Protestors signing] "What the world needs now, is love, sweet love." "It's the only thing, that there's just, too little of." "What the world needs now..." [Silence]. [Narrator] "In The Life" is funded in part by the H. van Ameringen Foundation... Patricia Kind in honor of her   brother Henry van Ameringen... arcus Foundation... The Estate of Richard W. Weiland... and by the annual support of "In The Life" members like you. 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