While Minnesotans are beginning to debate whether to incorporate into the state Constitution to limit the Freedom to Marry, the State of Iowa has allowed same-sex marriage for years. Whatever horrors that some may want to promote as inevitable or even remotely possible, so a poll of Iowans may put some of those assertions and fears to rest.

The poll is the TIR-Voter/Consumer Research Poll and it shows 49 percent of Iowans now favor gay marriage, while 42 percent oppose allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally in Iowa.

Same-sex marriage is currently legal in New York, Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Washington, D.C.
Maryland legalized gay marriage this year as well, but that state will also have a public vote this fall. In Maine, voters will decide on an initiative to approve same-sex marriage three years after a referendum overturned a law passed by the Maine Legislature.

Minnesotans will have the right to decide on Election Day if they want to restrict marriage, when it seems that voters should listen to Mitt Romney and his response to the question (in 1994) :

Would you be willing to advocate for rights of lesbians and gay men?

MR: The answer is yes. When I speak of free agency, I don’t just mean that each person can do what they want to do, I mean that our society should allow people the freedom to make their own choices and live by their own beliefs. People of integrity don’t force their beliefs on others, they make sure that others can live by different beliefs they may have. That’s the great thing about this country: it was founded to allow people to follow beliefs of their own conscience. I will work and have worked to fight discrimination and to assure to each American equal opportunity. You’ll see that, for instance, in my relations in the workplace.

I’ve been an executive of Bain & Co. For a number of years, I was chief executive at Bain & Co. It’s an environment that fosters openness and fights discrimination. I believe it is a good place for gay and lesbian individuals to work. I know of nothing in our workplace that doesn’t encourage promotion and compensation based on performance, without regard to personal differences, such as sexual orientation. I believe that my record, my life, is a clear indication of my support and insistence on anti-discrimination and on efforts to assure equal rights for all.

Hmmm … our society should allow people the freedom to make their own choices
Hmmm … People of integrity don’t force their beliefs on others, they make sure that others can live by different beliefs they may have.

You gotta wonder if Mitt Romney would be doing better in Iowa if he had embraced his 1994 beliefs.