News
2005-12-29
Klansman to
organize protest of same-sex marriage in Iowa
A Charles City,
Iowa, man who said he's a member of the Ku Klux Klan is
trying to organize a rally next month to protest attemp
A Charles City,
Iowa, man who said he's a member of the Ku Klux Klan is
trying to organize a rally next month to protest attempts to
legalize same-sex marriage in that state.
Douglas Sadler, 41, said his efforts are
prompted by lawsuits, filed earlier this month on
behalf of six gay couples, to alter the state’s
marriage laws. "We don’t believe God’s law
should be perverted any more than it already has
been," said Sadler, a father of four. "The further we
go away from God’s law, the further we get away from God."
Lambda Legal, the organization that spearheaded
the same-sex marriage drive across the country, is
representing the gay couples in the lawsuit. Group
officials said they will argue that the state
constitution’s equal-protection and due process
clauses make it unlawful for the state to bar gay
couples from marrying. They plan to take the case to the
Iowa supreme court if necessary.
That’s exactly where Sadler plans to hold
his protest. He said a contingent from Cerro Gordo,
Floyd, and Mitchell counties will head to Des Moines
sometime next month and spread its message. "We don’t
believe they have the right to marry," Sadler said. "In
fact, we don’t think they have the right to exist."
Sadler claims he leads a northern Iowa
contingent of the Klan but would not name any other members.
Lionel Foster, executive director of the Mason
City Human Rights Commission, said he is aware of Ku
Klux Klan activity in Iowa but is not extremely
concerned. "They spread the same propaganda as they always
have, and they thrive on it," he said. "To be honest, there
aren’t that many Klansmen in Iowa. We’re more
concerned about the sympathizers than we are with the
Klan because they cause the trouble." (AP)
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