Des Moines, Iowa - In the latest attack on LGBTQIA+ rights, eight Iowa Republicans have submitted a proposal to amend the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage.

The joint resolution, introduced by Iowa state House members Brad Sherman, Luana Stoltenberg, Mark Cisneros, Helena Hayes, Zach Dieken, Skyler Wheeler, Mark Thompson, and Thomas Gerhold, sets the stage for the state to refuse to recognize gay marriages.

The language the lawmakers propose to add to the state constitution reads: "In accordance with the laws of nature and nature’s God, the state of Iowa recognizes the definition of marriage to be the solemnized union between one human biological male and one human biological female."

If adopted, the resolution would have to be approved again in 2025 – after a new cohort of state legislators takes office – in order to amend the constitution.

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Even then, same-sex marriages could not be outlawed while the US Supreme Court's Obergefell v. Hodges ruling stands. The 2015 decision legalized same-sex marriage across the US.

However, fears that gay marriage, like abortion rights, might be on the chopping block grew after conservative Justice Clarence Thomas issued a concurring opinion saying Obergefell should be revisited.

The same day they put forward their resolution, Iowa Republicans also introduced HB 508, which would deny same-sex marriages in the name of "religious liberty."

Iowa Democrats were quick to denounce their Republican colleagues' efforts to curb gay marriage rights.

State Senator Liz Bennett, one of only three openly LGBTQIA+ legislators in Iowa, tweeted that the GOP measures constitute "an outright attack on the entire LGBT community."

"No, Iowa GOP, we will not be going back to the days when committed, loving same-sex couples don’t have the same right to marriage equality as everyone else," added state Representative Sami Scheetz. "This kind of disgusting hatred and backwards thinking has no place in Iowa. And I’ll fight it every single day."

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Dozens of high-school and college student groups also participated in walkouts on Wednesday to protest the anti-LGBTQIA+ moves. They took to the streets and even marched to the Iowa State Capitol, chanting slogans like "We say gay" and "Trans rights are human rights."

Now, Iowa House Democrats are circulating an online petition against the joint resolution, hoping to receive enough support by Thursday to prevent a House vote. The action has already garnered more than 57,000 signatures.