Johnson County Board Backs Marriage Equality

Johnson County Board Backs Marriage Equality

The Johnson County Supervisors passed a resolution Thursday supporting the Iowa Supreme Court's Varnum v. Brien decision that made Iowa the third state to allow gay marriage.

The resolution was in response to a vote by the all-Republican Jefferson County Board that opposed Varnum and called for a state vote on a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. The Jefferson County Board called on all other 98 counties to join them, but the Johnson County board, all Democrats, voted 4-1 to take the opposite side.

LGBT activist Robin Butler denounced the lone holdout, Pat Harney. "After Harney demanded changes in the letter to weaken the language of support, he voted against the letter being sent," Butler wrote in a mass-circulated email.

Butler's wife, Janelle Rettig, recently opened a campaign committee for the 2010 Democratic primary for county supervisor. She won't face Harney, who was re-elected to a four year term in 2008.