John Reid, the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, stakes out a conservative issue on almost every important issue but one — gay marriage. As a gay man in a committed long-term relationship, he supports gay marriage. Yet he would vote against a constitutional amendment before the General Assembly as currently written because it might abrogate the rights of those who oppose gay marriage.

He worries that priests and other religious leaders who do not support gay marriage would be compelled to officiate them, opening Virginia up to lawsuits should a gay couple be turned away at a church door, he tells the Daily Progress. “I think there will be an aggressive effort to go after churches and try to strip them of their tax-exempt status, trying to make sure that they can’t engage in government programs,” he said.

According to the Daily Progress, the marriage amendment reads as follows:

Marriage is one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness,” reads the proposed amendment’s language. “This Commonwealth and its political subdivisions shall not deny the issuance of a marriage license to two adult persons seeking a lawful marriage on the basis of the sex, gender, or race of such persons. This Commonwealth and its political subdivisions shall recognize any lawful marriage between two adult persons and treat such marriages equally under the law, regardless of the sex, gender, or race of such persons.

“My role as lieutenant governor is to protect everybody’s rights, it’s to make sure the citizens can live the lives they want to live unencumbered by government intervention and punishment from government agencies, and I want gay men and women to live as they see fit,” Reid said.

“But even if it hurts my feelings, if there is a church, if there is a pastor — and there are lots of them in Virginia — who do not approve of gay marriage — I wish they didn’t feel that way, but it’s not my place to argue with them — I’ve got to protect their rights to organize and believe and speak and exist as they see fit. I think I’m making everybody mad with that answer, but I think it is the right answer, and I think it is the future of Virginia. If we want to live in a free society, that needs to be freedom for everyone to live as they see fit.” 

Well, he’s not making me mad with that answer. There’s no way to make everyone happy on a matter like this. But Reid is staking out a position that minimizes government coercion and maximizes freedom for all. — JAB