A Polk County judge heard arguments Tuesday in the lawsuit twenty-three Republican legislators filed against Governor Tom Vilsack over his ban on discrimination against gay and “trans-gender” state workers. Lawyer Mark McCormick, Vilsack’s democrat opponent in 1998, is representing the G-O-P lawmakers.McCormick, who was once a justice on the Iowa Supreme Court, says Vilsack clearly violated the Constitution by trying to legislate state government employment policies.McCormick says the case is now in the hands of the judge. He expects the judge to rule one side or the other is right, and then each side would have an opportunity to appeal.Vilsack’s executive order bars discrimination against people based on their “gender, gender identity, sexual orientation and marital status” — all of which the republicans are challenging.
