ANTI-MARRIAGE VOW: Family Leader's pledge sparks controversy

The freedom to marry for gay and lesbian couples is yet again under attack by social conservative group the Family Leader and its president, Bob Vander Plaats.

With the release of an unsettling document last week, the organization is asking 2012 Republican presidential candidates to sign an anti-marriage equality vow in order to obtain any kind of public endorsement. This controversial document states that candidates must "vigorously oppose" marriage equality for loving, committed LGBT couples.

The 14-point vow garnered national headlines and criticism with an introductory paragraph that cited slavery: "...Sadly, a child born into slavery in 1860 was more likely to be raised by his mother and father in a two-parent household than was an African-American baby born after the election of the USA's first African American President."

HELP US STAND UP TO THIS DISCRIMINATION!

The reference to slavery has since been removed from the preamble, although not before 2012 presidential hopefuls Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum signed it. The document also calls for "earnest" legal advocacy for the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and the "steadfast embrace" of a federal marriage amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman throughout the United States.

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Mr. Vander Plaats continues to defend the marriage vow and the outrageous claims about children born into slavery despite media criticism.

It is up to all of us to stand up to this reckless and hurtful discrimination by Mr. Vander Plaats and the Family Leader. Become a sustaining equality member today and help us fight back against these outrageous comments and preserve the rights and freedoms of all Iowans.