Pledge for Iowa Families

With your help, we're going to change hearts and minds of Iowans to ensure all families have the equality, protections, and responsibilities they deserve and need. Iowans believe in fairness for all families!

Take the Pledge!

Sample Letter for Campaign

Subject: Pledge

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

As an Iowan who believes all people should be treated equally under the law, I urge you to support and protect the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Iowans and their families.

I support equal protections and responsibilities for all couples who wish to express their commitment. I believe those protections are best achieved through civil marriage and recognize that marriage strengthens Iowa communities and protects Iowa families.

I oppose any attempts to amend our state constitution to promote discrimination. The role of the courts should not be circumvented by lawmakers who should be focusing their time on real problems Iowa faces.

I urge my elected officials and fellow citizens to uphold the values of fairness and equality expressed by this pledge.

Signed by:

Campaign Launched:
February 14, 2008

Background Information

All loving, committed couples should have equal protections, responsibilities, and opportunities. The best way to achieve this is through marriage.

Denying equal access to critical protections to same-sex couples violates our state's fundamental guarantee of equality and fairness for all Iowans. All Iowa families should have the same opportunity and equal access to protect their loved ones from harm.

These critical protections include the automatic right to hospital visitation and to make health care decisions for each other, as well as the right to designate a surviving spouse as a pension beneficiary, family health insurance coverage and bereavement leave, joint responsibility for each other's debts, and the right to make burial and funeral arrangements for a deceased spouse.