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| The Profile In Courage Award Photo Courtesy of the JFK presidential library |
By Brody Levesque | BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS -- The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation announced this week that the three Iowa supreme court justices who voted in the state's high court unanimous decision that found a 1998 law that prohibited same-sex marriage rights as unconstitutional, and then later whom were removed from the bench in a retention vote led by anti-gay organisations in Iowa, will be honored with the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award.
The Profile in Courage Award- named for then Senator John F. Kennedy’s 1957 Pulitzer prize-winning book; Profiles in Courage- was created in 1989 by members of the Kennedy's family to honour the late president and to recognize and celebrate the quality of political courage that he admired most.
The Profile in Courage Award seeks to make Americans aware of the conscientious and courageous acts of their public servants, and to encourage elected officials to choose principles over partisanship – to do what is right, rather than what is expedient.
In 2009, Iowa Supreme Court justices Marsha Ternus, Michael Streit, and David Baker lost their retention bid in the 2010 elections after anti-gay organisations the Family Research Council, the National Organisation For Marriage, and Focus On The Family along with other national anti-gay groups led by state group the Family Leader's head, Bob Vander Plaats, claimed that the justices were legislating from the bench and failing to uphold what those groups deemed "Family Values" that mattered most to the citizens of Iowa.
Former Justices Ternus, Streit, and Baker will be honored for their ruling by the Kennedy Library Foundation in May. The award is presented each May at a ceremony at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in connection with the observance of President Kennedy’s May 29 birthday.
Calla Rongerude, interim executive director of One Iowa, a LGBTQ Equality Rights Group said in a press release:
“One Iowa congratulates Justice Ternus, Justice Streit, and Justice Baker for their courage and their commitment to upholding the Constitution. Because of their dedication to treating all Iowans as equal under the law, they have transformed the lives of loving and committed gay and lesbian couples and have made Iowa a more inclusive and fair place for all families. This is a very well deserved honor.”
Craig Robinson, the founder and Editor-in-Chief of TheIowaRepublican.com, Iowa's largest ultra conservative news site derisively noted:
"This is just another example of liberals using the role of the victim to advance their cause. This award has nothing to do with courage. It’s about political victimhood."
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1 comments:
"Craig Robinson, the founder and Editor-in-Chief of TheIowaRepublican.com, Iowa's largest ultra conservative news site derisively noted:
"This is just another example of liberals using the role of the victim to advance their cause."
Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. Every time they open their mouths and bleat that their right to bully is being infringed upon by those complaining about bullying they are doing that very thing. Hypocrites, all of them.
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