Senate co-president says vote on Gay Marriage Amendment unlikely

The leader of Democrats in the Iowa Senate says they will not cave to pressure on gay marriage. Senate Co-Leader Mike Gronstal, a Democrat from Council Bluffs, says it’s “pretty unlikely” that the Senate will vote to allow a statewide vote on an amendment to the state constitution banning gay marriage. “We already have a state law that outlaws gay marriage,” Gronstal says. Gronstal says he can’t quite understand what Hurley’s group is after. “First, they don’t want (gays and lesbians) to get married…and then if they actually get married and they decide they don’t want to be married, (Hurley’s group) doesn’t want to let them get divorced,” Gronstal says. “I don’t quite understand what their concern is.” Gronstal says when Republicans were in control of the Senate in 2004, the constitutional amendment on gay marriage failed. Gronstal says he doesn’t see the amendment passing in a Senate that’s now equally divided with 25 Democrats and 25 Republicans. Gronstal made his comments during taping of the Iowa Public Television program “Iowa Press.”