Sharp differences about marriage equality at Monday forum

The candidate forum sponsored by PFLAG of Northeast Iowa on Monday night showcased sharply different opinions about the Iowa Supreme Court ruling supporting the right of gays and lesbians to marry.

On the one hand was Christie Hager, the wife of State Assembly candidate Bob Hager, who missed the forum because of a fishing trip.  Christie Hager told the audience of three dozen people at First Lutheran Church that gay marriage "is totally against our faith."  "Where does the authority come from for the judges?" she asked the audience.

Christie Hager said "people are rising up" to take back control of their lives.  "Do not let the judges overturn what the people want," she warned.

State Representative John Beard disagreed.  "This decision reflects the egalitarian nature of Iowans," he said.  Beard cautioned, "What's popular is not always what's right and what's right is not always what's popular."  That's the reason the Constitution established the judiciary as a separate branch of the government, he said.  He pointed to civil rights and interracial marriages as two examples of politically unpopular causes that the courts supported because of what the constitution read.