DES MOINES — Republican state lawmakers say they will push for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage in Iowa after six same-sex couples filed legal action Tuesday claiming they should have the right to marry.

The Iowa couples filed a lawsuit in Polk County District Court claiming denial of a marriage license violates their constitutional rights. The plaintiffs’ attorney, Camilla Taylor of Lambda Legal, said it is among six such legal actions the gay rights group has filed around the country.

“This lawsuit is about love, commitment, family and what is fair,” Taylor said. “These couples are in love with each other, and they have been for years. They are ready and willing to make the commitment and to take on the responsibilities and obligations of marriage.”

Iowa Senate Co-President Jeff Lamberti, R-Ankeny, said the legal challenge to Iowa’s marriage laws brings a “new urgency” for lawmakers to approve a constitutional amendment defining marriage as being between a man and a woman. “We have a direct attack on Iowa law,” he said.

The couples filing the lawsuit say they should have the same legal rights heterosexual couples enjoy, including being able to visit each other in the hospital and to make medical decisions on each other’s behalf.

“At its heart, this case is about government standing in the way of two people who are trying to follow through on their commitment to each other,” Taylor said.

One of the couples suing is Jason Morgan, 35, and Chuck Swaggerty, 33, of Sioux City, who have been together nearly eight years. Morgan said he was not allowed to take paid bereavement time from his job at a bank when his partner’s mother died.

“We feel that we deserve the right to be married,” Morgan said. “On an everyday basis, it’s awkward and inadequate to describe Chuck as just a friend or roommate when he is more than that.”

The GOP-controlled Iowa House last session passed a resolution supporting the constitutional change after same-sex couples began applying for marriage licenses.

“We said at the time, a challenge will come in Iowa, and sure enough it has,” said Iowa House Speaker Christopher Rants, R-Sioux City.

Senate GOP leaders said they want to bring the amendment up for debate when the Legislature reconvenes next month. Senate Republicans could not get enough votes in 2004 to support a constitutional amendment, even when they held a clear majority. Now that the Senate is evenly divided between the parties, finding support might be more difficult.

Senate Democratic Leader Mike Gronstal of Council Bluffs would not say whether he might block debate on the measure. But he questioned the wisdom of moving forward with a constitutional amendment simply because a lawsuit has been filed. He said lawmakers would still have the option of moving forward with a constitutional amendment if the court rules in favor of the plaintiffs.

“I’m pretty confident that the court is going to uphold the state law,” Gronstal said.

If a measure supporting a constitutional amendment were to clear the Senate next year, it would have to clear the full Legislature a second time in 2007. The earliest it could be handed to voters for consideration would be the fall of 2007, said Senate Republican Leader Stewart Iverson.

Chuck Hurley, president of the Iowa Family Policy Center, a right-wing political group, said many in Iowa’s religious community will join the push for a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

Charlotte Eby can be contacted at

(515) 243-0138 or chareby@aol.com.