Dieken co-sponsors House bill banning same-sex marriage

Cherokee’s representative in the Iowa House was among a group of Republicans who introduced bills this week to ban same-sex marriage and amend the Iowa Constitution.

Rep. Zach Dieken, R-Granville, is one of the co-sponsors of House Joint Resolution 8, which seeks to amend the state constitution to include a section defining marriage as between “one human biological male and one human biological female.”

Another bill known as House File 508, which Dieken also co-sponsored, specifies that no Iowans would be required to recognize same-sex unions or ceremonies as marriages on the belief that the state recognizes “deep historical and religious roots that uniformly defined and understood marriage to be the union between one male and female.”

The bill adds that no Iowa resident “shall be compelled, coerced or forced to recognize” same-sex unions or ceremonies as marriage and “no legal action, criminal or civil, shall be taken” against citizens for refusing to “recognize or participate in same-sex unions or ceremonies.”

None of the bills had been assigned a subcommittee hearing ahead of Friday’s legislative funnel deadline, meaning it’s unlikely either will advance through the legislature this year.

Dieken represents House District 5, which includes the eastern half of Cherokee County, all of O’Brien and Osceola and a portion of western Buena Vista.