Last week was a good news/bad news week for Virginia’s gay,lesbian,bisexual and transgender citizens.
The good news was that Governor Kaine continued the ban on discrimination based on sexual orientation in his Executive Order 1 setting equal employment opportunity policy for the Commonwealth’s workforce. [He also added protections for veterans to the policy.]
The bad news was that the House of Delegates passed the 2nd resolution on the so-called marriage amendment and the bill setting the ballot question, moving us one step closer to a statewide referendum.
The proposed amendment to the Constitution would define marriage as between one man and one woman and bar creation or recognition of civil unions, domestic partnerships or other legal status for all unmarried relationships (gay or straight).
The language of the proposal now wending its way to the voters is so broad and so vague it threatens continued prosecution of domestic violence cases involving unmarried couples. See this discussion of what’s happening in Ohio which has identical language in its amendment. And, this on other issues.
Why are we rushing to amend our constitution with language no one understands?
Beats me. It’s not like there’s an emergency. We’ve had a ban on gay marriage in Virginia since 1975 (more than three decades!) without a single legal challenge. We’ve had a ban on recognizing gay marriages from other states since 1997. And, we’ve banned civil unions, domestic partnerships and other legal agreements for gay couples since 2004. There’s been no direct legal challenge to any of these laws, and only one case in which the civil unions law has been raised…by a judge (activist?) who reached out to cite it in refusing to recognize a custody order from another state’s courts.
Read traditionalist arguments for marriage equality for gays and lesbians on the Volkh Conspiracy
And for arguments against the proposed amendment now working its way through the Virginia legislature look here and here
As we remember Martin Luther King today and pray for his widow’s recovery from her stroke, we should reflect on what Coretta Scott King has said about issues of equality for gays and lesbians:
“I still hear people say that I should not be talking about the rights of lesbian and gay people and I should stick to the issue of racial justice,” she said. “But I hasten to remind them that Martin Luther King Jr. said, ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.'” “I appeal to everyone who believes in Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream to make room at the table of brother- and sisterhood for lesbian and gay people,” she said. – Reuters, March 31, 1998.
“We have a lot more work to do in our common struggle against bigotry and discrimination. I say “common struggle” because I believe very strongly that all forms of bigotry and discrimination are equally wrong and should be opposed by right-thinking Americans everywhere. Freedom from discrimination based on sexual orientation is surely a fundamental human right in any great democracy, as much as freedom from racial, religious, gender, or ethnic discrimination.” – Coretta Scott King, remarks, Opening Plenary Session, 13th annual Creating Change conference of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Atlanta, Georgia, November 9, 2000.
Ironic that the House will take a formal vote on enshrining discrimination against gays and lesbians in the Virginia constitution on Martin Luther King Day, isn’t it?
Disclosure: As indicated in my profile, I lobby for Equality Virginia, the Commonwealth’s leading advocacy group for Virginia’s GLBT citizens.
