Iowans evenly divided on gay marriage ban

According to a new poll by the Des Moines Register, Iowans support a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage by only one percent; 41% to 40%. 17% say they would not vote, and 2% say they aren't sure. And this is three years before there could possibly be a vote on the issue. I am happy to say that Iowa will not end up like California; marriage equality is here to stay

I am a bit surprised by the poll, because as of right now I had expected support for marriage equality to be around 35% maximum, with a clear majority opposed. I thought we'd be lucky to get opposition to it under 50% by 2012(the first possible time it could be up for a vote). But just 41% opposed is an amazing number, especially for a Midwestern state.

And my favorite number from the poll; 92% said that marriage equality had caused no real change in their lives. If only all of them used some common sense, this wouldn't even be an issue. The U of I professor at the end of the article is right; in a few years most people won't care, it will be the "new normal".

 

It's been what? Around 6 months? The sky hasn't fallen, God hasn't smote (that's the correct past tense of 'smite', isn't it?) us. There weren't really any major tornadoes this summer, and the weather was so much nicer than normal. If anything, I would say God was actually happy with us.

One thing I am amazed by is how much less homophobic central Iowa is than where I grew up in southwest Iowa. I guess part of it is that I'm almost always here on the ISU campus, which is naturally a more liberal and accepting environment, but I feel much more comfortable here. Prior to today, I had gone several weeks without hearing anybody make a homophobic comment or say something like "that's gay". One of my roommates (who are all from NE IA) made one comment the first weekend, but has corrected himself and hasn't said anything since. And all three are completely fine with having a gay roommate. It's nice

 

So do I

I've always like Des Moines as a city, but now I think if I stay in the area after college I'd prefer to stay here in Ames or move down to DSM rather than move back to Omaha. The people here are just so much better

 

They're a lot alike, only Omaha is a couple hundred thousand bigger. Although I think Omaha is prettier than DSM. This area of the state is just too flat, if you ask me.

Good choice of article

 

Lol. I was thinking of that as I made that post