They’re coming to terms with the cold, hard reality that the longer marriage equality is legal, the more that people realize it hasn’t changed their lives for the worse, and the less they’re likely to join up with a band of crying bigots to try to repeal it:

Ever since gay couples began flocking to Iowa to marry three years ago, conservative Republicans have been looking forward to amassing enough political power to put an end to it. But now that the opportunity is finally approaching, their goal may be slipping out of reach.

Conservative lawmakers are watching public opinion move away from them on the gay marriage issue, and now fear that voters might not approve a ban even if the GOP can put one on the ballot by winning control of the Legislature in the November elections.

The shifting views come as a bitter disappointment for the state’s prominent Christian conservative community which has long bridled at Iowa’s status as a gay rights haven in the heartland — the only place outside the Northeast where gays can marry.

“People are getting comfortable with it and that’s a shame to tell you the truth,” said Susan Geddes, an Iowa Republican and social conservative organizer who worked for Mike Huckabee’s 2008 presidential campaign in the state.

So sorry, Susan. This would be a good time for all those wingnuts to look into different hobbies they might have been neglecting while they were trying to hurt gay families.