During a Q&A session with reporters in Indianola, Iowa, late this morning, Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich was asked about last night’s vote in New York on gay marriage. Gingrich began his answer with a reference to gay marriage in Iowa. A 2009 Iowa Supreme Court ruling essentially legalized gay marriage in Iowa. And Gingrich donated to the 2010 effort to vote three of the seven justices on the Iowa Supreme Court off the bench.
Gingrich: “Iowa was a very different case from New York. I mean, Iowa was seven judges deciding that they would arbitrarily overturn the laws and the culture of the state of Iowa which is fundamentally different. I mean New York at least, whether you agree or disagree with the outcome, it is in the elected process and it is in the legislature and it is with the govenror and that’s the right venue.
“I helped sponsor the Defense of Marriage Act which basically doesn’t transfer automatically to all 50 states. I think the president should be, frankly, enforcing that act and I think we are drifting towards a terrible muddle which I think is going to be very, very difficult and painful to work our way out of.
“I believe that marriage is between a man and a woman. I think that’s what marriage ought to be and I would like to find ways to defend that view as legitimately and effectively as possible.”
AUDIO: Gingrich on gay marriage 1 min
About O.Kay Henderson
Kay is a founding member of the Radio Iowa network newsroom. In 1994, she became the network’s news director. She’s a featured reporter and commentator on Iowa Public Television’s “Iowa Press,” and the 2002 recipient of the Shelley Award.
It can’t be that “muddled” – Newt himself has done it three times.