State Reps. Dwayne Alons, R-Hull, and Dolores Mertz, D-Ottosen, have proposed a bill to amend Iowa’s Constitution and define marriage as being between a man and a woman.

House Joint Resolution 6 was introduced Friday as funnel week was coming to a close.  It has little chance of coming up for debate this session. It was introduced, Alons said, in response to Sen. Matt McCoy, D-Des Moines, introducing a bill making Iowa’s marriage laws gender neutral by removing the words “husband” and “wife” and replacing them with “spouse.”

All this takes place in the shadow of Varnum v. Brien, a lawsuit brought on behalf of six same-sex couples who are seeking the right to marry in Iowa. It is currently under consideration by the Iowa Supreme Court after oral arguments Dec. 9. The outcome will ultimately decide the constitutionality of Iowa’s Defense of Marriage Act.

Alons, who represents an overwhelmingly conservative district in northwest Iowa, has long been an outspoken opponent of same-sex marriage, even joining in a lawsuit in 2000 against then-Gov. Tom Vilsack alleging the governor exceeded his authority by signing an executive order to protect gay state workers from job discrimination. Then, in 2008, he opposed a bill that would extend that protection to the areas of employment, housing, education, public accommodations and credit practices, telling the Sioux City Journal that it was inappropriate to grant these rights to “people that make choices in life that other people feel are inappropriate.”

Also last year, Alons proposed a bill making people who want to apply for marriage licenses to meet residency requirements. The bill, which did not pass, was Alons’ attempt to stop homosexual couples from around the United States from coming to Iowa, getting married and returning to their own state to sue to get the union recognized, should the Supreme Court invalidate Iowa’s marriage laws.

Mertz joined with Republicans in 2008 to vote against the bill extending civil rights protections to gays and lesbians. She also has said several times that she opposes changing Iowa’s marriage laws to allow same-sex couples the right to be married.