DES MOINES, IA – The state capital was awash in same-sex marriage events this week, and both sides were wellrepresented. On Tuesday, the Family Leader, a conservative Christian organization, held a rally in the Capitol Rotunda which was meant to convince the state Senate’s Democratic leaders to allow a vote on a proposed constitutional amendment that would prohibit marriage equality.

Same-sex marriage is legal in the Hawkeye State, after a 2009 state Supreme Court decision invalidated a state law barring such marriages. Since then, conservatives attempted to write a ban into the state constitution. Iowa’s Republican-led House approved such an amendment last year, but it has stalled in the state Senate. A constitutional amendment requires lawmaker approval of the proposed amendment in consecutive legislative sessions before it is then put to popular referendum.

One Iowa, an organization that advocates marriage equality, likewise held a rally on Tuesday, which featured speakers in support of same-sex marriage, including members of Iowa Republicans for Freedom, a GOP group that favors marriage equality, and the Interfaith Alliance of Iowa.