Virginia actually did it. They passed a bill that kicks a group of people right in the teeth, and they have the audacity to say its
“protecting” marriage. Thats right, they weren’t content to let the existing Defense Of Marriage Act (DOMA) show folks that they didn’t support marriage between gay people. No, they had to pass an over-the-top law that says not only do they not support gay marriage here, but anything that even presumes to grant privileges that are considered part of marriage is not legal. And by the way, if you do get Gay-married in another state, … its not legal here.
You think they’d remember how badly their last “hatred of marriage” bill worked out. Just look up Loving vs. Virginia, when they said that interracial marriages in other states were against the law in Virginia. You think they’d learn their lesson, that just because two people who love each other makes them nervous, they don’t have the right to pass such hate laws in public.
Makes them look like bigots and racists and all kinds of evil doers. Hardly the kind of thing Jesus would stand behind. He was never playing one group of people against another.
I have yet to understand how what I do in my home with my partner makes a difference to my neighbor’s marriage?
I pay taxes, I support the schools system, keep my lawn neat , I am a good neighbor.
Why do you feel you have the right to intrude into my life and limit my choice of partners, alter our legal rights to own property joint, reject my choice to obtain health insurance to cover us if we get cancer or any of the things "regular folks" get as they age.
I am not asking for special privileges, I am asking for the same things you share with your partner.
http://www.VirginiaisforHaters.org/
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The Associated Press wrote:
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Gay activists rallied in major cities statewide to protest a new law that critics said could nullify legal contracts between same-sex couples.
The state law, which goes into effect Thursday, prohibits civil unions, partnership contracts or other arrangements “purporting to bestow the privileges or obligations of marriage.”
Critics said it could be used to nullify medical directives, wills, joint bank accounts and other agreements between gay couples.
“(The law) clearly states that gay and lesbian people in this state should not feel welcome,” said Dyana Mason, executive director of Equality Virginia, the state’s largest gay rights organization. “It seeks to strip the only tool that gay and lesbian couples have to protect their families.”
Mason spoke at a rally in Richmond on Wednesday that drew more than 400 gay activists and supporters to the Capitol grounds. Simultaneous rallies were held in Norfolk, Charlottesville, Fredericksburg, Fairfax, Staunton and Roanoke.
Gov. Mark R. Warner, a Democrat, issued a statement condemning the law, which he refused to sign.
“This law raises serious constitutional issues and it places Virginia outside the mainstream of other states when it comes to respecting individual liberty,” he said.
Kent Willis, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia, said his group was working with others to legally challenge the law. He said it was so vaguely worded that it could be used against heterosexuals of the same sex who enter into legal agreements with each other.
Virginia Attorney General Jerry Kilgore has said the law provides a needed safeguard for the institution of marriage and does not deprive anyone of individual rights. Kilgore has vowed to defend the law if challenged.
The conservative Family Foundation said in a statement that gay rights groups are “willing to frighten and mislead their supporters simply to further their own political agenda.”
“All the rallies in the world won’t change the fact that this law passed with a bipartisan supermajority of the General Assembly,” said Victoria Cobb, spokeswoman for the group.