The controversial issue of same sex marriage is back in the headlines this week.

First there’s the Obama campaign back-tracking Vice President’s comments in support of equal rights for gay couples ( see our coverage here). Then there’s a vote Tuesday in North Carolina on whether to ban same sex marriage in the state.

But there is an another current story on the subject that has it’s roots back in April 3, 2009.

This was the day the Iowa Supreme Court ruled in favor of marriage equality.  Now three of the justices who voted in favor of the case- who never thought of themselves as same-sex marriage advocates – have been voted off the bench.

Marsha Ternus was the Chief Justice when the Iowa Supreme Court reviewed the case.  Before the case, Ternus reports that she hadn’t really thought about the issue and didn’t really know any gay people.

She remembers being surprised when she realized that all of the justices agreed that there was no way to reconcile their state’s equal protection guarantee with anything less than marriage equality.

The New York Times profiles Ternus as she prepares to be honored the Profile of Courage Award.  It’s a chill-down-your-back, inspiring, stand-up-for-what’s-right kind of story, and if you haven’t read it yet, you should!

But Ternus and her colleagues made history in their decision, which Theodore Olson of Prop 8 fame praises as incredibly thoughtful, straight-forward, and thorough.

That same-sex marriage offended tradition? Well, many musty traditions proved indefensible over time. That marriage was for procreation? Childless couples abounded. That it undermined religious tenets? The court was dealing with civil marriage, not church weddings. That it devalued male-female unions, as conservative religious groups claim?…If these organizations are really worried about marriage, rather than being motivated by bigotry and hatred, then they would be going after the divorce laws. But they’re not.

This blogger argues that this back-track is a dumb move – Republicans will continue to claim to their base that President Obama supports marriage equality, while this denial will frustrate Obama’s gay supporters and their allies.

But Ternus’s story shows that there certainly can be political consequences for taking a stand for equality.

What do you think?  If you were President Obama, how would you balance the political consequences with the belief that gays and lesbians should have equal rights?